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OCTOBER  1955 


Above  all, 


Pabco  stands  for 


color.  You 


get  the  widest 


choice  of  colors 


in  roofing— lots 


of  new  colors 


in  paint,  too. 


Inside  and 


outside  the 


house,  Pabco 


colors  are 


always  right 
for  your  home, 


because 


LOOK  AM  BAD 

WITH 

Pabco 


For  Color  ^mA 


they're  right 

for  each  other. 

That's  how 

Pabco  makes 

your  home 

the  smartest 

L 

house  on 

\ 

k 

the  street. 

Ik 

Look  for  Pabco 

Elk. 

< 

paint,  roofing, 

siding,  where 

^1 

■k 

you  see  this 

^ 

Bk. 

emblem. 

u 

^R^2 

Jr 

F#r                        -*-' 

S 

id 

V 

f'AiiCO  PRODUCCi  It 

At    47*j  BRANNAN  SffiEl  1    SAN 

BANClSCO.  CALIFORNIA    0 

by  Dr.  Franklin  S.  Harris,  Jr. 


In  England  about  1300  A.D.  the  peas- 
ant had  to  pay  a  fine  if  he  sent  his 
son  to  grammar  school  or  university 
because  the  manor  lost  a  laborer,  hence 
the  landlord  had  to  be  compensated.  At 
the  elementary  school  the  first  book  was 
a  horn  book,  made  of  parchment  pro- 
tected by  a  transparent  layer  of  horn, 
on  which  were  written  the  alphabet,  the 
Lord's  prayer,  and  one  or  two  other 
elementary  things. 

In  the  fifty  years  since  the  United 
States  Forest  Service  was  organized, 
the  American  forestry  profession  has  had 
15,000  men  obtain  degrees  from  techni- 
cal schools.  The  Society  of  American 
Foresters  has  over  10,000  members. 

Fofessor  Delbert  A.  Greenwood  of  the 
Utah  State  Agricultural  College  has 
demonstrated  on  1500  animals  that  if 
slaughter  cattle  are  fed  a  pound  of 
sugar  daily  on  top  of  regular  food  the 
last  three  days  of  their  life,  the  carcasses 
will  average  six  pounds  heavier.  Similar 
results  have  been  found  in  calves,  sheep, 
swine,  chickens,  and  turkeys. 

Screw-worm  flies  lay  eggs  in  cuts  and 
scratches  in  animals'  bodies.  When 
the  eggs  hatch  into  larvae,  they  cause 
discomfort  to  the  animals  and  financial 
loss  to  the  owners  of  the  animals.  In 
the  course  of  research  for  chemicals  to 
control  the  flies,  100  generations  were 
reared  artificially  on  a  synthetic  diet. 
When  released  after  100  generations 
away  from  animals,  the  flies  started 
buzzing  around  animals  looking  for  a 
place  to  lay  eggs. 

A  study  of  the  rate  of  wear  of  sea  cliffs 
at  La  Jolla,  California,  has  found 
that  it  takes  about  600  years  to  weather 
the  sandstone  cliffs  one  foot,  by  action 
of  weathering  and  erosion. 

Oueen  Shub-ad's  tiny  filigree  vanity 
case,  shaped  like  a  shell,  the  size  of 
a  man's  little  finger,  contained  a  metal 
stick  for  training  the  cuticle,  a  pair  of 
dainty  tweezers  for  shaping  the  eye- 
brows, and  a  small  spoon  probably  for 
scooping  rouge.  Queen  Shub-ad  lived  in 
ancient  Ur  (of  the  Chaldees),  Iraq, 
5,000  years  ago. 
OCTOBER  1955 


PURITY  BISCUIT  CO.  SALT  LAKE  •  PHOENIX  •  POCATELLO 


689 


NEAT 

. . .  because  he's  a 
professional  painter 


K 


I  EAT  is  the  word  for  any  painting  job 
done  by  your  professional  Painting  Con- 
tractor. He  makes  it  his  business  to  care- 
fully protect  your  furnishings,  floors  or 
shrubbery  —  and  without  annoying  fuss  or 
bother. 

He  has  the  tools  and  equipment  neces- 
sary to  do  a  fast,  thorough  job  on  any 
painting  problem  you  may  have  — inside 
or  outside  your  home. 

And  his  long  experience  assures  you  of 
beautiful  results  that  will  give  complete 
and  lasting  satisfaction.  For  names  of 
reliable  Painting  Contractors,  call  your 
Fuller  Paint  Dealer. 


FULLER 
PAINTS 


njuer 

POINTS 


W.  P.  Fuller  &  Co. 

Be  sure  to  ask  your  Painting  Contractor  to 
use  Fuller  latex  wall  and  woodwork  paint 
—  FUL-COLOR. 

He'll  be  glad  to,  because  FUL-COLOR  goes 
on  smoothly,  evenly,  easily.  It  has  no  "painty" 
odor,  so  you  can  re-occupy  a  room  only  one 
hour  after  he's  finished.  Choose  your  favorite 
paint  colors  from  the  famous  Fuller  Jewel 
Case  at  your  Fuller  Paint  Dealer. 

690 


A  New  Pattern  of  Influence 

by  Dr.  Q.  Homer  Durham 

VICE    PRESIDENT,    UNIVERSITY  OF  UTAH 


A  great  change  is  taking  place  in  the 
United  States.  The  custody,  super- 
vision, and  leadership  of  what  we  call 
"the  American  way  of  life"  is  shifting 
to  the  Western  States.  The  1956  elec- 
tions will  bring  into  focus  the  new  power 
of  California  and  Texas.  Governor 
Goodwin  Knight  of  California  and  Gov- 
ernor Allen  Shivers  of  Texas  are  cur- 
rently receiving  public  notice  of  their 
new  political  importance.  But  the  change 
is  more  than  political.  It  is  demo- 
graphic, economic,  and  social.  There  is 
potential  to  lift  American  life  to  differ- 
ent levels  of  outlook,  status,  and  behav- 
ior. It  is  a  product  of  the  influence  of 
new  patterns  of  living  in  an  arc  of 
twelve  western  states. 
This  arc  swings  from 
northwest  to  southwest, 
from  the  Pacific  Coast 
and  the  forty-ninth  par- 
allel to  Texas  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  is 
the  fastest-growing  area 
in  the  American  Union, 
led  in  percentage  of  pop- 
ulation increase  1940-50 
by  California's  53.3  percent 
10,586,223  in  the  1950  census,  California 
stood  second  only  to  New  York's  14,830,- 
192.  But  New  York  in  the  same  decade 
grew  only  10.0  percent.  It  is  possible 
that  the  1960  census  may  show  Cali- 
fornia as  the  most  populous  state  in 
the  Union.  Washington,  at  the  north- 
west tip  of  this  new  arc  of  American 
influence,  showed  37  percent  population 
growth.  Texas,  at  the  southwest,  reached 
7,711,194  in  1950,  with  20.2  percent, 
while  Arizona's  rate  was  near  Cali- 
fornia's with  50.1  percent. 

Population  Table  1940-50 — The  Twelve 
Western  States 


Totaling 


State 

1950  Census 

Increase 

Washington 

2,378,963 

37.0% 

Oregon 

1,521,341 

39.6 

California 

10,586,223 

53.3 

Idaho 

588,657 

12.1 

Nevada 

160,083 

45.2 

Utah 

688,862 

25.2 

Arizona 

749,587 

50.1 

Montana 

591,024 

5.6 

Wyoming 

290,529 

15.9 

Colorado 

1,325,089 

18.0 

New  Mexico 

681,187 

28.1 

Texas 

7,711,194 

20.2 

The    political   influence   of   this   new 
ares    was    demonstrated    in    the     1952 


presidential  nominating  conventions. 
California's  influence  was  decisive  in  the 
Republican  convention.  Led  by  Gover- 
nor Earl  Warren,  California  held  the 
balance  of  power  between  the  Taft  and 
the  Eisenhower  forces.  When  Cali- 
fornia swung  to  Eisenhower,  the  show 
was  over.  California's  new  role  in 
America  then  was  demonstrated  by  the 
selection  of  Senator  Richard  Nixon  as 
"Ike's"  Vice  President.  Later,  Governor 
Warren  received  the  highest  prize  con- 
ferrable  by  the  Presidency  when  Presi- 
dent Eisenhower  named  him  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States.  That  Chief 
Justice  Warren  could  be  a  one-term 
Eisenhower  successor  was  clear  by  1954 
■ — again  an  indication  of 
the  new  position  of  the 
West  and  California.  But 
with  a  worthy  regard  for 
p  \  the  judiciary,  Chief  Jus- 

tice Warren  removed 
himself  from  the  presi- 
dential picture.  Imme- 
diately the  lines  of  politi- 
cal force  (Republican) 
regrouped  themselves 
around  California,  this  time  around  the 
three  most  visual  objects  on  that  politi- 
cal magnet  —  Vice  President  Nixon, 
Senator  Knowland,  and  Governor 
Knight.  That  magnet  will  continue  to 
attract  and  determine  political  lines  of 
force. 

All  the  foregoing  is  the  surface  aspect 
of  a  great  shift  inside  America.  From 
the  beginning  down  to  around  1824, 
the  United  States  was  dominated  by  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  Philadelphia  was 
the  most  central,  cultural  capital,  with 
Boston  and  New  York  to  the  north  and 
Baltimore  and  Charleston  to  the  south. 
From  1824  to  1860,  the  new  "west"  and 
"south" — Ohio,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Texas — 
made  their  impact  on  the  old  seats  of 
power.  New  York  developed  the  best 
communications  with  the  "new  west" 
(by  means  of  the  Erie  Canal — Great 
Lakes — Ohio  River — Mississippi  water- 
ways) and  rose  to  be  the  nation's  popu- 
lation center.  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  main,  came  from  either 
New  York  or  Ohio  (typifying  this 
power)  for  the  next  century.  Lincoln's 
election  from  Illinois  in  1860  only 
cemented  the  geographic,  economic,  and 
cultural  alliance  centering  at  New  York. 
But  today  a  brand  new  pattern  is  emerg- 
ing. Texas,  too  long  considered  as 
"southern,"  is  actually  more  western  in 
attitude  and  spirit.  (7,711,194  people  in 
(Concluded  on  page  694) 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


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1.   DOCTRINES    OF    SALVATION 
Volume  Two 

Sermons  and  Writings  of 

Joseph  Fielding  Smith 

Compiled  by  Bruce  R.  McConkie 

The  eagerly  awaited  second  vol- 
ume of  this  tremendously  popu- 
lar works  is  now  available.  Dis- 
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and  exaltation,  what  they  are 
and  how  to  gain  them,  are 
authoritatively  presented  in  an 
easy  to  understand  language. 
Throughout  18  absorbing  chap- 
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degrees  of  glory,  salvation  for 
the  dead,  temples,  and  the  resur- 
rection are  but  a  few  of  the 
subjects  discussed.  <t*j   f\(\ 


3.   IT'S  YOUR  LIFE  TO   ENJOY 

By  Wendell  J.  Ashton 

This  is  a  book  for  those  who  would  keep 
young  in  Jieart.  Full  of  anecdotes  about 
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enjoy-  $2.50 


5.  COMMENTARY  ON  THE 
BOOK   OF  MORMON 

By  George  Reynolds  and 
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After  reading,  re-reading,  and 
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of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  the 
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commentary  turned  to  writing 
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As  the  reader  progresses  in  the 
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2.   FROM  THE   CROSS-ROADS 
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More  than  100  of  the  choicest 
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broadcasts  have  been  assembled 
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These  sparkling,  two  to  three 
minute  sermonettes  concern 
themselves  with  "thoughts  on 
God  and  love  and  the  ever- 
lasting   things."  <tO   "TC 


4.   GOLDEN    NUGGETS    FROM    THE    NEW 
TESTAMENT 

By  Ezra  L.  Marler 
From  the  beginning  of  Matthew  to  the  end 
of  Revelations  are  scattered  golden  nuggets 
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6.   LET   YOUR    LIGHT    SHINE 
By  A.  L.  Cook 

The  practical  application  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  told  in 
an  interesting  and  forthright 
style  that  is  certain  to  inspire 
a  Christ-like  life.  Young  parents 
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Oct.   1955 


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or  money  order  (      ) 

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list  of  LDS  books  available 
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OCTOBER  1955 


ADDRESS  -. 

C ITY  STATE. 


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691 


"The  Voice  of  the  Church" 


r*>       n*> 


VOLUME  58 


NUMBER  10 


Editors:   DAVID   0.  McKAY     -     RICHARD    L.   EVANS 

Managing  Editor:  DOYLE  L.  GREEN 

Associate  Managing  Editor:   MARBA  C.  JOSEPHSON 

Production  Editor:  ELIZABETH  J.  MOFFITT 

Research  Editor:  ALBERT  L.  ZOBELL,  JR. 

Manuscript  Editor:   ALLIE  HOWE 

Contributing  Editors:  ARCHIBALD  F.  BENNETT     -     G.  HOMER  DURHAM 

FRANKLIN    S.    HARRIS,    JR.     -     MILTON    R.    HUNTER     -     HUGH    NIBLEY 

LEE  A.  PALMER     -     CLAUDE  B.  PETERSEN     -     SIDNEY  B.   SPERRY 

General  Manager:  ELBERT  R.  CURTIS     -     Associate  Manager:  BERTHA  S.  REEDER 

Business  Manager:   JOHN  D.  GILES     -     Advertising  Director:  VERL  F.  SCOTT 

Subscription  Director:   A.   GLEN  SNARR 


The  Editor's  Page 

A  Lesson  in  Reverence President  David  O.  McKay  701 

Church  Features 

Your  Question:  How  Was  Lehi  a  Descendant  of  the  Jews? 

- ...Joseph  Fielding  Smith  702 

The  Way  of  the  Church — Two  Views  of  Church  History — Con- 
clusion   Hugh  Nibley  708 

Solomon  Mack  and  His  Family — Part  2 Archibald  F.  Bennett  712 

Through  the  Eyes  of  Youth — Courage  in  Action  ..Jim  McFarland  720 


The  Church  Moves  On  696 

Genealogy    712 


Melchizedek   Priesthood   752 

Presiding  Bishopric's  Page  754 


Special  Features 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith  Visits  the  Far  East 

Xyle  B.  Leatham  703 

The  Other  Side  of  the  Equation  Esther  Freshman  707 

Timeless  Principles  of  Family  Relationships  

Victor  A.  Christopherson  710 

Riches  at  Our  Feet  .__. Ezra  J.  Poulsen  711 

Should  Parents  Be  Teachers? Elizabeth  Adamson  715 

Dear  Tom: Margaret  T.  Goff  719 

Pisgah — Mormon  Landmark Lorraine  V.  Buckman  722 

Archaeology  and  the  Book  of  Mormon — Part  VI 

........Milton  R.  Hunter  724 

The  Spoken  Word  from  Temple  Square  _. 

Richard  L.  Evans  734,  740,  764 


Exploring  the  Universe,  Franklin  S. 

Harris,  Jr 689 

These  Times- — A  New  Pattern  of  In- 

Today's  Family 

Know  Your  LDS  Cooks — Food 
and  Fun  When  Spooking's 
Done,  Barbara  Williams  756 


fluence,  G.  Homer  Durham  690 

Your  Page  and  Ours  768 


Let  Sister  Help,  Louise  Price  Bell. .760 

Handy  Hints  760 

Understanding,  O.  A.  Kearney 761 


Stories,  Poetry 


Little  No-Name's  Grandson George  A.  Boyce  704 

A  Disgrace  to  the  Family Mary  Ek  Knowles  716 

Frontispiece — Autumn    Road,    Dor-  Signal   Fires,   Elizabeth  A.   Hutchi- 

othy  J.  Roberts  700  son  748 

Poetry  Page  701       Two  Shopping,  Lucretia  Penny 751 


\-Jfticiat    \_Jrqan    or 

THE  PRIESTHOOD  QUORUMS, 
MUTUAL  IMPROVEMENT  ASSO- 
CIATIONS, DEPARTMENT  OF 
EDUCATION,  MUSIC  COMMITTEE, 
WARD  TEACHERS,  AND  OTHER 
AGENCIES  OF 

~Jke    L^kurck    of 

/jeiu-i    L^kriit 

of  <=JLatter-aau    S>aint5 


Uke    C-t 


over 


The  glorious  autumn  colors  in  the  North 
Fork  of  American  Fork  Canyon  with 
Utah's  Mount  Timpanogos  in  the  back- 
ground is  our  cover  photograph.  It  is 
the  work  of  Hal  Rumel. 


EDITORIAL    AND    BUSINESS    OFFICES 
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Copyright  1955  by  Mutual  Funds,  Inc.,  and 
published  by  the  Mutual  Improvement  Asso- 
ciations of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints.  All  rights  reserved.  Sub- 
scription price,  $2.50  a  year,  in  advance ; 
foreign  subscriptions,  $3.00  a  year,  in  advance; 
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Entered  at  the  Post  OfFice,  Salt  Lake  City, 
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mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided 
for  in  section  1103.  Act  of  October  1917,  au- 
thorized   July   2,    1918. 

The  Improvement  Era  is  not  responsible  for 
unsolicited  manuscripts,  but  welcomes  con- 
tributions. All  manuscripts  must  be  accom- 
panied by  sufficient  postage  for  delivery  and 
return. 

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Luscious  Plump  and  Meaty  raisins  come  to 
you  as  fresh  as  the  day  they  were  packed — 
twice-sealed  in  Flavo-tite  cartons  or  bags. 
They  stay  fresh  and  hold  their  natural  good- 
ness and  taste.  Try  them  today! 

SAVE!  Buy  the  economical  two  and  four 
pound  bags,  twice-sealed  in  Flavo-tite. 
They  keep! 

VAGIM  PACKING  COMPANY  •  FRESNO,  CALIFORNIA 


694 


These  Times 

(Concluded  from  page  690) 

1950.)  Like  California,  its  economic 
strength  alone  is  felt  throughout  the 
country.  Nor  should  education  he  over- 
looked. The  west,  with  Utah  and 
Oregon  first  and  second,  leads  the  na- 
tion in  proportion  of  college  age  youth 
actually  enrolled  in  college.  (Utah  52 
percent;  Oregon  43  percent;  national 
average  31  percent.) 

Look  at  the  map.  Examine  the  edu- 
cation, transportation  systems,  economic 
strength,  vigorous  people  of  Washing- 
ton, Oregon,  California,  Idaho,  Nevada, 
Utah,  Arizona,  Montana,  Wyoming, 
Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Texas. 
These  people  look  to  Seattle,  Portland, 
San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Phoenix, 
Alhuquerque,  Dallas,  Fort  Worth,  Hous- 
ton, Denver,  and  Salt  Lake  City  with 
interest  akin  to  regional  pride.  That 
regional  pride  is  fortified  by  the  western 
"horse  opera"  tradition  so  apparent  in 
film,  radio,  and  TV,  where  good  always 
conquers  evil.  It  is  fortified  by  things 
new:  plumbing,  houses,  highways,  mo- 
tels, industries,  schools,  churches,  oil, 
uranium,  even  clothing  styles,  in  con- 
trast to  the  older  American  capitals  of 
fjoston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, and  Charleston. 

One  can  look  at  Brigham  Young's 
1850  map  of  the  "State  of  Deseret,"  em- 
bracing the  central  and  southwest  heart 
of  this  region,  and  admire  his  vision. 
Sitting  in  California,  a  Utahn  can  be- 
muse himself  with  Sam  Brannan's  trans- 
Sierra  dash  in  June  1847,  to  meet  Brig- 
ham  Young  at  Fort  Bridger;  the  debates 
there  between  Salt  Lake  Valley  and  the 
vast  unfinished  empire  that  is  still  be- 
coming California.  One  can  even  wish, 
for  a  moment,  that  Brigham's  vision 
might  have  been  Brannan's  urge  to  go 
farther  west.  But,  viewing  the  region 
as  a  whole,  with  Salt  Lake  City's  posi- 
tion as  an  internal  spiritual  capital, 
accessible  to  the  entire  area,  one  can 
also  be  grateful  that  Brigham  Young's 
vision  prevailed. 

Political  strength  is  a  special  indicator 
of  where  real  power  and  influence  exists. 
The  second  half  of  this  century  will 
show  much  political  power  issuing  from 
this  great  area  which  includes  Texas, 
California,  and  the  Pacific  Northwest. 
Certainly  Chicago,  New  York,  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  older  seats  of  fi- 
nance, learning  and  influence  are  not 
going  to  drop  from  sight!  But  the 
maturing  of  the  western  states  is  now 
at  hand.  With  this  maturation,  great 
and  interesting  changes  can  be  expected. 
The  1956  campaign,  about  to  get  under 
way,  will  only  be  one  indicator  of  a 
new  pattern  of  American  influence  in 
these  times. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


A  Good  Turn  For  Motorists 


Most  people  Consider  a  car  the  second-biggest 
purchase  they'll  ever  make.  Anything  that 
extends  its  life  or  improves  performance  nat- 
urally contributes  to  your  pocketbook  as  well 
as  your  motoring  pleasure.  Since  our  new 
"Deter gent- Action"  Gasolines  do  both,  they're 
prime  examples  of  Standard's  planning  for  you. 

Standard  has  built  4  catalytic  reformers  in  the 
West  to  make  these  cleaner-burning,  more  pow- 
erful motor  fuels  required  for  best  perform- 
ance of  today's  higher  compression  engines. 
This  program  was  two  years  in  planning  and 
building — cost  $50  million. 


This  $50  million  worth  of  plants  is  only  part 
of  the  $350  million  Standard  is  investing  this 
year  to  make  petroleum  more  useful  and  plen- 
tiful. Some  of  it  will  go  for  product  research, 
part  will  pay  for  new  manufacturing  facilities. 
A  good  share  will  finance  the  search  for  new 
sources  of  oil  to  help  supply  the  733  gallons 
a  year  per  person  that  go  into  thousands  of 
oil-born  products  essential  to  modern  living. 

So  the  $350  million  is  an  investment  in  your 
future  as  well  as  ours.  It's  one  way  Standard 
helps  guarantee  there'll  be  plenty  of  oil  to  do 
more  jobs  today  and  in  the  years  to  come. 


STANDARD  OIL  COMPANY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

plans  ahead  to  serve  you  better 


OCTOBER  1955 


695 


THE  CHURCH  MOVES  ON 


A  Day  To  Day  Chronology  Of  Church  Events 


July  1955 


I  Elder  Spencer  W.  Kimball  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  dedicated 
the  chapel  of  the  Rotterdam  Branch, 
Netherlands  Mission. 

Sunrise  services  commemorating  the 
arrival  of  the  Pioneers  were  held  in  Salt 
Lake  City. 

Special  Pioneer  Day  programs  were 
held  in  many  of  the  wards  of  the 
Church. 

An     estimated    ninety    thousand 

people    saw    the    "Days    of    '47" 

parade.    The  parade  was  also  televised. 

A  luncheon  honoring  the  living  pio- 
neers who  came  to  Utah  before  the 
completion  of  the  railroad  in  1869  was 
given. 

The  Torch  They  Bear,  a  musical 
pageant  featuring  150  dramatists,  a  200- 
voice  choir,  and  soloist  Carl  Palangi  of 
the  San  Francisco  Opera  Company  was 
presented  in  the  Salt  Lake  Tabernacle. 
Proceeds  of  this  concert  were  given 
to  the  Salt  Lake  Tabernacle  Choir 
European  tour  fund. 

The   First   Presidency   announced 
the  appointment  of  Elder  Samuel 
E.    Bringhurst   to   be    president   of   the 
new  Swiss  Temple. 

Personnel  of  the  new  Church  build- 
ing committee  was  announced.  Named 
to  assist  Elder  Wendell  B.  Mendenhall 
whose  appointment  has  been  announced 
as  chairman  were  Elder  John  Henry 
Vandenberg  of  the  Denver  (Colorado) 
Stake  presidency;  Elder  Harry  E.  Mc- 
Clure  of  Gridley  (California)  Stake; 
Elder  Harold  W.  Burton  of  Los  Angeles, 
and  Elder  Raymond  H.  Bradfield  of 
Stockton,  California. 

President  David  O.  McKay  dedi- 
cated the  chapel  of  the  Provo  Park 
and  University  wards,  Utah  Stake. 


August  1955 


2 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
of  the  Council  of  the  Twelve  dedi- 
cated the  land  of  Korea  for  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel. 


6 


The  appointment  of  Dr.  David 
Ririe,  a  member  of  the  Sacramento 
(California)  Stake  high  council,  to  have 
full  charge  of  the  agricultural  develop- 
ment of  Church  lands  at  the  New 
Zealand  LDS  College  was   announced. 

696 


Programs  in  many  of  the  wards  of 
the    Church    noted    the    seventy- 
seventh  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
the  Primary  Association. 

a  Members  of  the  Salt  Lake  Taber- 
nacle Choir  and  their  friends  left 
Salt    Lake    City    aboard    two    special 
trains  for  their  European  tour. 

An    estimated    twelve    thousand 
spectators  witnessed  the  first  per- 
formance    of     America's     Witness     for 
Christ,    the    sacred    pageant    presented 
yearly  at  the  Hill  Cumorah. 

Another  performance  of  the  pag- 
eant was   given   at   the  Hill   Cu- 
morah, near  Palmyra,  New  York. 


13 


Members  of  the  Salt  Lake  Taber- 
nacle Choir  embarked  from  Mont- 
real for  their  European  tour  aboard  the 
S  S  Saxonia. 

Adverse  weather  conditions  postponed 
the  final  performance  of  the  pageant 
America's  Witness  for  Christ.  This  was 
the  first  time  in  its  fourteen  year  history 
that  a  performance  has  been  cancelled. 

1  i  The  stake  conference  schedule  be- 
gan again  this  week  end  after  a 
short  summer  vacation. 

Elder  Mark  E.  Petersen  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Twelve  dedicated  the  chapel 
of  the  Cedar  (Utah)  Stake  center  and 
the  Cedar  City  Sixth  ward. 

The  final  performance  of  America's 
Witness  for  Christ  was  presented  at  the 
Hill  Cumorah  before  an  audience  of 
twenty  thousand  persons. 

1  O  President  David  O.  McKay  and 
his  party  left  Salt  Lake  City  by 
air  for  Europe  where  he  will  dedicate 
the  Swiss  Temple  and  break  ground  for 
the  British  Temple.  Accompanying  the 
President  this  time  were  Sister  Emma 
Ray  McKay,  their  son  and  daughter- 
in-law,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  R.  McKay, 
and  the  President's  secretary,  Clare 
Middlemiss. 

The  annual  junior  all-Church  soft- 
ball  tournament  opened  at  the  new 
Church  softball  park  and  at  Jordan 
Park.  Scores  in  today's  games:  Central 
Park  12,  Declo  8;  San  Diego  Fifth  29, 
Moroni  East  0;  Ogden  Twenty-seventh 
1,  Kaysville  Second  0;  Provo  Eleventh 
8,  Malad  Third  5;  Weston  7,  Layton 
Fifth  6;  Montpelier  Third  5,  Corvallis 
3;  Las  Vegas  Sixth  8,  Menan  Second  5; 


Inglewood  2,  Chandler  1;  Nephi  First  7, 
Terrace  Second  5;  Valley  View  6, 
Compton  First  5;  St.  David  18,  Farm- 
ington  Second  0;  Taylorsville  7,  Poca- 
tello  Ninth  6;  Holladay  Fifth  18;  Glen- 
wood  3;  Clearfield  Second  6,  Grant 
Third  2;  Salt  Lake  Thirtieth  6,  Vineyard 
5. 

f  Scores  in  the  all-Church  junior 
softball  tournament:  Chandler  7, 
Lapoint  1;  Menan  7,  Terrace  Second  6 
(nine  innings) ;  Grant  Third  15,  Glen- 
wood  0;  Inglewood  7,  Castle  Gate  0; 
Vineyard  13,  Corvallis  2;  Nephi  9,  Las 
Vegas  3;  Clearfield  Second  6,  Holladay 
Fifth  3;  Salt  Lake  City  Thirtieth  8, 
Montpelier  0;  Farmington  Second  10, 
Declo  6;  Layton  Fifth  3,  Compton  First 
2;  Pocatello  Ninth  9,  Kaysville  Second 
4;  Malad  Third  12,  Moroni  East  3;  San 
Diego  12,  Provo  Eleventh  2;  Weston 
15,  Valley  View  6;  Ogden  Twenty- 
seventh  7,  Taylorsville  5;  Central  Park 
7,  St.  David  6  (nine  innings). 

Scores  in  today's  games  of  the  all- 
Church  junior  softball  tourna- 
ment: Malad  Third  2,  Pocatello  Ninth 
1;  Layton  Fifth  12,  Farmington  Second 
6;  St.  David  2,  Valley  View  0;  Central 
Park  10,  Weston  4;  Taylorsville  4, 
Provo  Eleventh  3;  San  Diego  6,  Ogden 
Twenty-seventh  2;  Chandler  10,  Grant 
Third  4;  Menan  8,  Vineyard  6;  Holla- 
day Fifth  9,  Castle  Gate  5;  Montpelier 
15,  Las  Vegas  5;  Inglewood  15,  Clear- 
field Second  1;  Salt  Lake  Thirtieth  19, 
Nephi  5. 


19 


President  David  O.  McKay  was 
among  those  meeting  the  Salt  Lake 
Tabernacle  Choir  as  it  arrived  at 
Greenock,  Scotland. 

Scores  in  today's  games  of  the  all- 
Church  junior  softball  tournament: 
Chandler  10,  Menan  3;  St.  David  9, 
Taylorsville  4;  Montpelier  5,  Holladay 
Fifth  4;  Layton  Fifth  4,  Malad  1;  Clear- 
field 6,  Nephi  2;  Ogden  Twenty-seventh 
7,  Weston  6;  San  Diego  6,  Central  Park 
2;  Inglewood  8,  Salt  Lake  City  Thirtieth 
1. 

n  a  President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
of  the  Council  of  the  Twelve  an- 
nounced in  Manila  that  the  Church 
would  establish  a  new  mission  in  the 
Philippines  "within  the  next  two 
months." 

The  Salt  Lake  Tabernacle  Choir  gave 
its  first  concert  of  the  European  tour  in 
Kelvin  Hall,  Glasgow,  Scotland. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


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44  East  South  Temple 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

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Enclosed  you  will  find  {     )  check     (     )  money  order     ( 
to   my   account   the  following    encircled    (numbered)    books. 

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OCTOBER  1955 


697 


698 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


utumn  R 


— Photograph  by  Leland  Van  Wagoner 


by  Dorothy  J.  Roberts 


Highways  banked  above  the  water-bed, 
The  dappled  roads  that  necklace  curve  and  shallow, 
Comfort  his  aging  sight  with  aspen  gold, 
Pooled  on  the  slope  and  rivered  in  the  hollow. 

Roads  retrieve  for  him  the  gyre  of  trails; 
His  younger  step  their  slanting  hush  had  taken: 
"A  cinnamon  of  crushed  leaf  spiced  the  woods.  .  .  . 
The  stag  could  step  and  not  a  twig  be  broken." 

Ease  the  car  between  the  amber  glades; 
He  lifts  a  field  glass  to  his  waning  vision. 
While  weave  of  fence  denies  him  further  hills, 
He  funnels  back  through  lens  the  distant  autumn. 

Familiar  forest  ebbs  into  his  heart, 

The  silent  cavern  of  its  absence  filling. 

The  bird  and  bough  are  parted.     All  is  mute 

Save  the  sound  of  leaves  on  the  dark  road  falling. 


OCTOBER  1955 


699 


WE   AWAKE   FROM   OCTOBER 
By  Lael  W.  Hill 

all  night  the  wind,  gone  mad  with  grief 
-f*  And  too  much  moon  upon  him,  hurled 
The  birds  to  southward;   leaf  by  leaf 
Stripped  down  the  willows  of  the  world. 

All  night  the  wind  paced  back  and  forth 
Tearing  earth's  garden  calm  to  shreds- 
Flinging  invectives  from  the  north 
And  biting  off  the  zinnia  heads. 

Now  ragtag  ends  of  autumn,  hung 
Upon  once   proud   sunflower  stalks, 
Flaunt  all  our  days;  we  are  unstrung 
By  broken  ghosts  of  hollyhocks. 

FALLING   OF    THE   YEAR 
By  Catherine  E.  Berry 

rE  last  leaf  sways  on  the  empty  elm, 
A   lonely  souvenir 
Of  beauty  that  the  springtime  brought; 

This  falling  of  the  year 
Has  gently  put  the  earth  to  sleep, 

And  harvested  the  leaves 
In  golden  carpets   underfoot, 

Where  autumn  sunlight  weaves 
A  tracery  of  bronze  to  glow 

Until  November's  frost 
Has  covered   all  the  sleeping  earth, 

And  each  gold  leaf  is  lost. 

HOURGLASS 
By  C.  Cameron  ]ohns 

Here   where    I   walk    at    peacock-summer's 
end, 
Steps  slowing  to  the  pace  of  death's  brown 

leaves, 
The  brumal   weather  concurring  with  dark 

night 
Prepares   a  white  shroud   while   reft  nature 
grieves. 

Caught  in  the  winds  of  the  mind-sided  seas, 
An  abandoned  husk  swept  toward  reaching 

land, 
I  seek  for  life's  harvest,  once  gaily  promised, 
My    fingers    grasping    tightly    at    grains    of 
sand. 

Is  this  the  heritage  of  the  dark  river's  flood, 
The  only  birthright  the  tempered  heart  has 

won, 
Or  is  it  this  flame  bright  as  a  new  star 
Or  the  song,  within  me,  as  I  near  the  sun? 


HARVEST  GOLD 
By  Eunice  Buck 

ii,  yes,  I  do  remember  when 
This  lovely  one  made  her  debut! 
We   named    her   Happy   Springtime   then — 
Our  long-awaited  wish  come  true. 

Today  I  see  her  tired  and  old, 

Making  ready  for  her  adieu — 

Now  you  can  see  she's  Harvest  Gold, 

And   to   our   God   let's  say,   "Thank  You!" 

700 


TALL  CANDLES  BURNING 
By  Inez  Clark  Thorson 

i  few  full  moons  ago  white  lilac  plumes 
Stood  like   tall  candles   lighting  up   the 
dark, 
And   here  was    heard   at   dawn's    first   flush 

the  song 
Of  robin  and  the  silver-throated  lark. 

But  now  this  lane  is  shrouded  in  gray  mist, 
The  teeth  of  rust  gnaw  at  the  lilac  hedge, 
And   silence  meets   the  day  ...  the   songs 

are  hushed, 
The    singers    flown    to    keep    their    autumn 

pledge. 

And  yet  a  few  moons  hence  along  this  way 
The   lilac-candles  once  again  will  burn, 
And  medleys  will  replace  the  quietude — 
The   soaring   lark   .   .   .   the   robin  will   re- 
turn. 


BREAD    IS   THE  THEME 
By  Kathrya  Kendall 

rE  bins  are  full  of  tawny  wheat 
When  green-winged  mallards  fly, 
And   the  gray  geese  wedge  their  way  again 
To   a  bluer,  mellower  sky. 

Yes,  the  bins  are  filled  with  harvest's  boon, 
And  all  the  birds  are  flown, 
But  the  mill  entones  a  sweeter  tune 
When  Winter's  snow  is  blown. 

Oh,  it  sings  of  life  the  whole  day  long 
For   bread  is  the  theme  of  its   lovely  song. 

OCTOBER  ORCHARD 

By  Eleanor  Alletta  Chaffee 

rE  old  trees  sigh  and  shrug  bent  shoul- 
ders; lean 
Carelessly  on  the  stone  wall  where  the  light 
Drains    slowly   from    the   crimson-patterned 

green, 
And   I  can  hear  them   in  the   frosty   night 
Whispering  to  each  other,  sunk  knee-deep 
In    trampled    grass    still    fragrant    with   the 

smell 
Of  apples.    Somehow  orchards  seem  to  keep 
Reluctant  summer   longest,  knowing  well 
How   long  the   time   between   two   springs. 

And  so 
The  dark  is  laced  with  sound;  although  the 

birds 
Have    traced    for    days   the   way   that    they 

must  go 
And    now    are    silent,    yet    small    muttered 

words 
Rise  from  the  weathered  figures  on  the  slope 
Still  fragrant  with  the  scent  of  ancient  hope. 


BEWARE! 
By  Eloise  Wade  Hackett 

IRATES 

rove  >the  sky  lanes — 
bold  winds,  out  to  plunder 
October's  fleet  of  its  golden  treasure. 


AUTUMN  MAGIC 
By  Katherine  Berle  Stains 

he    woods   in   summer   green   enfold   my 
view     ' 

And  bear  me  up  to  tranquil  heights  that  fill 
My  mind  with  lazy  dreams.    Without  a  new 
Horizon,  how  I  drift  along  until 
My  outer  soul  begins  to  fade  away 
To  nothing!    All  at  once  an  autumn  tree, 
Newly  crimsoned,  upsets  my  idle  day 
And  stabs  my  view  with  bright  reality. 

Not    soon,    but    soon    enough,    the    autumn 

claims 
A  place  upon  the  scene  of  life,   and  when 
It  stirs  us  from  lethargic  ways,  it  aims 
To  freshen  up  our  lives  that  we  again 
May    breathe.      And,    as    the    golden    tones 

mature, 
They  glow  to  make  the  green-of-youth  ob- 
scure. 


AUTUMN  INTERIM 
By  Beulah  Huish  Sadleir 

£«ould  I  merely  say  it  is  fall  again 

0  And    murmur   to   myself   the   words   we 

spoke 
Each   time   we   met? 

1  wander    through    the    canyon's    flaming 

depths 
And  feel  the  last  sensuous  vibrations  of 
The  summer's  breath. 

I  follow  the  tumbling  stream  through 
Brush    and   thicket, 
Realizing  that  mountain  trails  were 
Never  meant  for  one. 

SUMMER  TO  TASTE 
By  ]ane  Merchant 

rE    best    of   summer's    flavors,    rich    and 
good, 
Is  the  surprise  of  a  ripe  peach's  tang — 
Always  surprise,  since  no  one  ever  could 
Remember,  winter-long,  the  tingling  pang 
Of  happiness  a  peach's  piquant  sweetness 
Yields  eagerly  to  the  first  eager  bite, 
Filling  one  with  a  sovereign  completeness 
Of  unembittered,  unalloyed  delight. 
The  Sunday  School  picnicking  innocence 
Of  strawberry  ice  cream,  and  cantaloupe's 
Bland  suavity,  have  generous  excellence, 
With  watermelon's  crispness;  but  my  hopes 
Of  summer  bliss  are  best  fulfilled   by  each 
Slow  bite  I  take  of  a  sun-ripened   peach. 

OCTOBER 
By  Alfred  Cecil  Baker 

ctober  sidled  in  today: 
A  turquoise  noise,  the  Milky  Way; 
Summer  in  her  last  embrace 
Of  amber  arms  and  golden  face. 

An  interlude  that  knows  not  care, 
A  symphony  of  earth  and  air: 
From  cloud  aloft  to  mellow  sod 
October  is  the  breath  of  God. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


>:x2s3s>^>^>^£n3;Gn5;ov^^ 


A  Lesson  In  Reverence 

by  President  David  O.  McKay 


The  dictionary  definition  of  reverence  is  "Honor 
or  respect  felt  or  manifested;  deference.  Pro- 
found respect  mingled  with  love  and  awe." 
But  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day 
Saints,  the  word  means  much  more. 

Reverence  embraces  regard,  deference,  honor, 
and  esteem.  Without  some  degree  of  it,  therefore, 
there  would  be  no  courtesy,  no  gentility,  no  con- 
sideration of  others'  feelings  or  of  others'  rights. 
It  is  a  fundamental  virtue  in  religion.  "Reverence 
is  one  of  the  signs  of  strength;  irreverence  one  of 
the  surest  indications  of  weakness.  No  man  will 
rise  high  who  jeers  at  sacred  things." 

Reverence,  as  charity,  should  begin  at  home. 
In  early  childhood,  children  should  learn  to  be 
respectful,  deferential,  reverent — respectful  to  one 
another,  to  strangers  and  visitors,  deferential  to 
the  aged  and  infirm — reverent  to  things  sacred,  to 
parents  and  parental  love.  No  true  psychologist 
will  say  that  a  child  should  grow  up  without  a  con- 
sciousness that  in  the  home  and  in  the  presence 
of  others,  there  are  bounds  and  limitations  to  his 
activities,  desires,  and  tantrums.  "Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go:  and  when  he  is 
old,  he  will  not  depart  from-it"  (Proverbs  22:6) 
is  an  admonition  full  of  sound  philosophy. 

Training  in  the  home  reflects  itself  in  the  pub- 
lic behavior, of  young  men  and  women,  for  ex- 
ample, in  church. 

Churches  are  dedicated  and  set  apart  as  houses 
of  worship.  This  means,  of  course,  that  all  who 
enter  do  so,  or  at  least  pretend  to  do  so,  with  an 
intent  to  get  nearer  the  presence  of  the  Lord  than 
they  can  in  the  street  or  amidst  the  worries  of  a 
workaday  life.  In  other  words,  we  go  to  the 
Lord's  house  to  meet  him  and  to  commune  with 
him  in  the  spirit.  Whether  such  a  place  of  meet- 
ing be  a  humble  chapel  or  a  "poem  in  architec- 


ture" built  of  white  marble  and  inlaid  with 
precious  stones,  makes  little  or  no  difference  in 
our  approach  and  attitude  toward  the  "Infinite 
Presence."  To  know  he  is  there  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  impel  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as  ladies 
and  gentlemen. 

One  of  the  best  lessons  I  ever  received  in  my 
life  with  respect  to  reverence  for  God's  church 
(I  use  "church"  in  this  sense  as  "chapel")  I  re- 
ceived many  years  ago  when  I  visited  Brigham 
City,  Utah.  I  was  then  general  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  Church,  and  we  were 
holding  a  Sunday  School  conference  in  Brigham 
City.  The  stake  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
Schools  and  I  approached  the  building  early.  Just 
before  we  turned  through  the  gate  we  saw  the 
bishop  of  the  ward  approaching  us.  The  stake 
superintendent  said,  "Here  comes  the  bishop  of 
the  ward.  He  is  always  the  first  one  in  the  chapel 
on  Sunday  morning." 

As  we  entered  the  chapel,  I  said  to  him  in  a 
rather  loud  voice,  "Bishop,  I  have  just  heard  a 
compliment  for  you.  Superintendent  Hoopes  just 
told  me  you  are  always  the  first  one  in  the  chapel 
on  Sunday  morning.  I  want  to  compliment  you 
on  your  true  leadership  and  your  worthy  example 
of  punctuality."  When  he  answered  me,  he  an- 
swered in  a  subdued  tone,  "Yes,  I  try  to  be  here 
early." 

The  next  time  I  spoke  in  that  building,  my 
voice  was  subdued,  also.  Then  I  noticed  when 
others  came  in,  though  the  meeting  had  not  be- 
gun, that  they,  too,  spoke  in  subdued  tones.  I 
made  inquiry  as  to  the  reason  for  their  speaking 
in  a  low  tone,  and  I  was  told  that  when  the  build- 
ing was  dedicated  the  bishopric  of  the  ward,  the 
ward  teachers,   and  the  quorum  presidencies   all 

(Concluded  on  following  page) 


<SCNCv{7\G>£Vry^CNCV7JGX^ 


OCTOBER  1955 


701 


THE  EDITORS  PAGE 


(Concluded  from  preceding  page) 

met  together  and  decided  that  whenever  they  entered 
the  building,  they  would  move  and  speak  reverently.  I 
was  interested  to  observe  that  when  the  children  entered 
Sunday  School  they,  too,  had  a  reverential  attitude,  and 
so  did  their  fathers  and  mothers. 

Reverence  should  be  manifest  in  sacrament  meetings, 
in  MIA,  and  in  the  meetings  of  all  the  other  auxiliaries 


of  the  Church.  This  is  a  missionary  Church.  People 
come  here  for  light  and  knowledge,  for  instruction,  and 
they  have  a  right  to  find  it  when  they  come. 

A  prayerful  heart  will  do  much  to  bring  reverence  into 
our  lives.  Our  individual  and  family  prayers,  and  those 
said  in  church,  will  bring  us  closer  to  our  Heavenly 
Father,  and  build  our  honor  and  respect  for  him  and 
for  the  things  which  he  asks  us  to  hold  sacred. 


mm- 


,.:  ■■■  ■■      .  ■   ■■:   ■;■■    . 


by  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  TWELVE 


■ 


^SiS^Solw^sSSS' 


ISJftSSS^iSsW:::: 


How  Was  Lehi  a  Descendant  of  the  Jews? 


J  "Will  you  kindly  answer  a  question  for 
our  Sunday  School  class?  In  1  Nephi 
5:14,  we  are  informed  that  Lehi  was  a  descendant  of 
Joseph,  and  in  2  Nephi  30:4,  it  states  that  the  Nephites 
were  descendants  of  the  Jews.  Since  the  Jews  were  de- 
scendants of  Judah,  how  can  these  statements  he  har- 
monized?" 


It  is  true  that  Lehi  and  his  family  were 
descendants  of  Joseph  through  the  lineage 
of  Manasseh  (Alma  10:3),  and  Ishmael  was  a  descendant 
of  Ephraim,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith.  That  the  Nephites  were  descendants  of 
Joseph  is  in  fulfilment  of  the  blessings  given  to  Joseph 
by  his  father  Israel.  The  Nephites  were  of  the  Jews, 
not  so  much  by  descent  as  by  citizenship,  although  in 
the  long  descent  from  Jacob,  it  could  be  possible  of  some 
mixing  of  the  tribes  by  intermarriage. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  in  the  days  of  Rehoboam, 
son  of  Solomon,  ten  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  re- 
volted and  were  known  as  the  kingdom  of  Israel  from 
that  time  on  until  they  were  carried  away  into  Assyria. 
The  other  two  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  remained 
loyal  to  Rehoboam  and  were  known  as  the  kingdom 
of  Judah.  Lehi  was  a  citizen  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  king- 
dom of  Judah.  Presumably  his  family  had  lived  there 
for  several  generations,  and  all  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah,  no  matter  which  tribe  they  had  de- 
scended through,  were  known  as  Jews.  The  condition 
is  comparable  to  conditions  today,  for  example:  Many 
members  of  the  Church  have  been  gathered  out  of 
England,  Germany,  the  Scandinavian  countries,  and 
other  foreign  lands.  Coming  to  this  country  they  have 
take  out  citizenship  papers,  and  then  they  and  their 
descendants    are    known    as    Americans,    being    citizens 

702 


of  this  country.  There  is  also  a  comparable  example 
in  the  case  of  Paul  the  apostle.  When  he  was  arrested 
on  complaint  of  the  Jews,  the  chief  captain  mistook  him 
for  an  Egyptian  who  had  created  a  rebellion,  and  Paul 
said  to  the  captain,  "...  I  am  a  man  which  am  a  Jew 
of  Tarsus,  a  city  in  Cilicia,  a  citizen  of  no  mean  city: 
and,  I  beseech  thee,  suffer  me  to  speak  unto  the  people." 
When  the  privilege  was  granted,  Paul  spoke  to  the  angry 
Jews  and  said:  "I  am  verily  a  man  which  am  a  Jew, 
born  in  Tarsus,  a  city  in  Cilicia,  yet  brought  up  in  this 
city  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  and  taught  according  to 
the  perfect  manner  of  the  law  of  the  fathers,  and  was 
zealous  toward  God,  as  ye  all  are  this  day."  (Acts  21:37- 
39,  and  Acts  22:3.)  In  writing  his  epistles  to  the  Roman 
saints  and  also  to  the  saints  at  Philippi,  Paul  said:  ".  .  . 
For  I  also  am  an  Israelite,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin."  (Romans  11:1,  and  Philip- 
pians  3:5.) 

Not  only  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  are  the  descendants 
of  Lehi  called  Jews,  but  also  in  the  Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nants. In  section  19,  verse  27,  this  is  found:  "Which  is 
my  word  to  the  Gentile,  that  soon  it  may  go  to  the 
Jew,  of  whom  the  Lamanites  are  a  remnant,  that  they 
may  believe  the  gospel,  and  look  not  for  a  Messiah  to 
come  who  has  already  come."  Again,  in  giving  instruc- 
tion to  the  elders  who  had  journeyed  from  Kirtland  to 
Missouri,  the  Lord  revealed  the  place  for  the  building  of 
the  temple  and  gave  instruction  for  the  purchase  of  land 
"lying  westward,  even  unto  the  line  running  directly 
between  Jew  and  Gentile."  (Section  57:4.)  This  line 
westward  was  the  dividing  line  between  the  whites  and 
Indians. 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
Visits  the  Far  East 

resident  Joseph  Fielding  Smith  of      priesthood.     One  of  the  purposes  of 


Pthe  Council  of  the  Twelve  has 
recently  returned  from  a  tour  of 
the  Far  East.  Leaving  Salt  Lake  City 
July  7,  with  Sister  Smith  and  Presi- 
dent Herald  Grant  Heaton  of  the 
Southern  Far  East  Mission,  and  his 
family,  President  Smith  spent  the 
seventy-ninth  anniversary  of  his  birth, 
July  19,  aboard  the  ocean  liner  Presi- 
dent Wilson  in  mid-Pacific. 

After  his  arrival  in  Japan,  July  26, 
there  was  a  succession  of  conferences 
— missionary,     MIA,      district,      and 


his  tour  was  to  create  two  missions — 
the  Northern  Far  East  and  the  South- 
ern Far  East — from  the  present 
Japanese  Mission.     President  Hilton 


President  and  Sister  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
join  President  and  Sister  Hilton  A.  Robert- 
son,  formerly  of  the  Japanese  Mission,  now 
presiding  over  the  Northern  Far  East  Mis- 
sion, and  President  and  Sister  H.  Grant 
Heaton  of  the  Southern  Far  East  Mission 
in  the  mission  home  in  Tokyo. 

— Photos  by  Lijle  B.   Leatham 


A.  Robertson  will  continue  to  preside 
in  the  Northern  Far  East  Mission. 
Leaving  Japan,  President  Smith's  first 
stop  was  Korea,  where  he  dedicated 
that  land  for  the  preaching  of  the 
restored  gospel,  August  2. 

President  and  Sister  Smith  had  a 
very  busy  schedule,  visiting,  counsel- 
ing and  strengthening  servicemen  and 
members  in  such  places  as  Seoul  and 
Pusan,  Korea;  Tokyo  and  Hokkaido 
on  a  second  visit  to  Japan;  Okinawa, 
Formosa,  Hong  Kong;  Manila  and 
Clark  Field  in  the  Philippines;  Guam, 
and  finally  Hawaii,  where  they  at- 
tended the  quarterly  conference  of  the 
Oahu  Stake  August  27  and  28.  Here 
President  Smith  was  joined  by  Elder 
Adam  S.  Bennion  in  creating  the  new 
Honolulu  Stake.  Later  President  and 
Sister  Smith  returned  home  by  air 
liner. 

The  following  account  was  written 
by    an    LDS    serviceman,    Lyle    B. 
Leatham,  then  stationed  in  Japan. 
(Continued  on  page  765) 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  addressing  the  con- 
ference, July  31,  1955.  (above)  President 
Smith  greets  Clark  Doxey  of  the  Ogden 
(Utah)  Nineteenth  Ward,  Dennis  Goodrich 
of  Tridell,  Utah,  and  David  B.  Harmon,  Jr., 
of  Salt  Lake  City. 


OCTOBER  1955 


703 


D. 


i^ertE  Mo  -Mamie 


eUA 


by  George  A.  Boyce 


A  wagon  pulled  by  a  team  of  horses 
moved  slowly  down  the  dusty 
road. 

It  was  a  rickety,  weather-beaten 
wagon,  and  the  fluted  ribs  of  the  for* 
lorn  horses  stuck  sharply  through 
their  lean  hides.  The  driver  was  an  old 
man  who  wore  his  black  hat  in  that 
ridiculous-looking  way  that  old  Nava- 
jos  do — set  high  on  his  head  with  no 
tilt  to  the  hat,  no  curl  to  the  wide 
flat  brim,  and  no  dent  in  the  high 
crown.  It  seemed  to  rest  on  top  of 
the  large  lump  of  long  black  hair 
that  was  tied  at  the  back  of  his  neck 
like  a  figure  of  eight. 

Clothed  in  an  old  maroon  shirt  of 
cheap  material,  open  at  the  collar, 
and  blue  jeans  with  plain  wide  belt, 
he  was  obviously  poor.  But  his  long 
face  was  calm.  And  the  steady  gaze 
of  his  eyes,  marked  by  an  arrow  of 
creases  radiating  from  the  corners 
because  of  long  squinting  in  the  bright 
sun,  conveyed  the  utmost  dignity  with 


^MUSO-C^L 


humility.  It  was  a  pleasant  face  to 
look  upon. 

Alongside  him  sat  a  boy  with  virgin 
clean  white-and-blue  striped  T-shirt, 
rumpled  from  the  bundle  it  had  just 
come  out  of.  Around  the  collarless 
neck  was  a  long  yellow  necktie  where 
no  necktie  belonged,  adding  to  the 
incongruous  appearance  of  the  spec- 
tacle— old  man  and  young  boy,  rickety 
wagon,  half-dead  horses! 

But  the  old  man  was  excited  and 
happy.  He  could  count  three  genera- 
tions of  waiting  for  this  event,  and 
his  mind  was  full  of  silent  musings. 

"Both  of  us  orphans,"  he  was 
thinking  as  he  looked  down  at  the 
boy.  "Your  father,  who  was  my  son, 
went  to  fight  against  Big  Eyes  and  is 
gone  out  there.  And  my  father,  The 
Limper,  was  murdered.  Now  you  are 
around  ten  plantings  old,  as  I  recall, 
Little  Grandson.  You  will  be  the  first 
of  us  to  go  to  the  government  for  an 
education,  and  I  am  happy." 

Some  of  The  People  do 
not  care  about  an  educa- 
tion.     As    for    myself,    he 
I  was     thinking,     when     a 

white  man  talks  to  me,  I 
can  only  shuffle  my  feef. 
I  do  not  know  what  he  is 
saying,  and  that  makes 
me  sad.  We  must  lift  the 
curtain  for  our  young 
ones.  Our  hope  is  in 
them.  That  is  the  way 
I  look  at  Education. 

They  had  started  at 
dawn  when  -the  air  was  in 
a  deep  chill  that  pene- 
trated their  thin  clothes, 
and  their  stomachs  had 
been  fortified  with  only  a 
few  tortillas.  But  cold 
and  hunger  were  never 
part  of  their  conversation. 
That  is  just  the  way  it  is. 
And  it  would  take  them 
till  afternoon,  across  many 
gullies  and  washes,  and 
over  the  mesas,  and  down 
through  the  valleys  to 
reach  the  school 


704 


Now  the  sun  was  out  warm  and 
strong,  and  the  old  man  was  thinking 
of  the  things  his  maternal  uncle  had 
told  him  during  the  long  winter 
nights  when  he  too  had  no  father, 
and  he  too  was  young  like  Little 
Grandson. 

According  to  my  uncle,  he  was 
.ihinking,  my  father  was  born  shortly 
after  the  People-Who-Came-From- 
T  he  -P 1  a  c  e- Where- White-Men  -First- 
Came-From  arrived  suddenly  in  our 
midst.  Nowadays  those  people  are 
known  as  Anglos — or  just  white  peo- 
ple. Before  that  there  were  only 
Mexicans  and  Pueblos  and  Apaches 
and  Utes  around  us.  There  was  no 
Medicine  Man  to  help  my  mother, 
so  my  father's  hip  was  hurt  when 
he  was  born.  That  is  why  they 
called  him  He-Who-Limps  or  simply 
The  Limper. 

After  my  people  came  back  from 
camp  at  Fort  Sumner,  my  uncle  told 
me,  Little  Limper's  father  had  great 
hope  in  the  Treaty.  The  government 
gave  them  six  sheep  for  his  family 
and  some  seed  for  corn.  The  white 
man's  war  chief  said  there  would  be 
no  more  sheep.  The  people  must  save 
the  sheep,  otherwise  they  would  be 
destitute  again.  My  father's  people 
were  very  grateful. 

There  was  drouth,  and  the  corn 
did  not  grow,  but  they  did  not  eat 
the  sheep  even  though  they  were 
hungry  and  without  other  food.  They 
had  to  keep  moving  about  to  keep 
from  starving.  Little  Limper's  mother 
and  sisters  would  go  looking  for  edi- 
ble seeds.  They  did  not  dare  go  far 
for  fear  of  the  Mexicans  and  the 
Utes.  The  Mexicans  took  women  and 
children  for  slaves. 

Limper  and  his  father  would  try 
to  trap  some  animals  for  meat.  Game 
was  scarce,  and  there  were  only  lit- 
tle animals  like  prairie  dogs,  mice, 
and  rats,  chipmunks,  and  only  a  few 
rabbits.  Generally  they  came  back 
without  any  game.  Children  today 
do  not  know  about  trapping  like  the 
old  people,  the  old  man  thought,  as 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


The  driver  was  an  old  man  who  wore  his  black  hat  in  that  ridiculous-looking  way  that 
old  Navajos  do.  .  .  .  Along  side  of  him  sat  a  boy  with  virgin-clean  white-and-blue  striped 
T-Shirt. 


he  looked  down-  at  his  young  grand- 
son alongside  him.  Then  the  wagon 
lurched,  and  Little  Grandson  brushed 
against  him. 

"Grandfather,"  the  boy  said,  "will 
there  be  sheep  for  me?" 

"No,  Little  Grandson,  there  will 
be  no  sheep,"  he  said  sadly  as  he 
looked  out  over  the  barren  sands. 
"There  is  stock  reduction  now.  Only 
a  few  of  The  People  can  have  sheep. 
And  there  is  conservation,  so  no  one 
can  have  enough  sheep.  It  is  the  law 
of  the  land  to  have  only  a  few  sheep 
today.  You  must  get  an  education 
and  learn  another  way  of  living." 

A  s  the  wagon  moved  slowly  along, 
■^*-  the  old  man  began  to  think  too 
of  his  own  beginning.  A  faint  smile 
passed  his  lips  as  he  thought  of  his 
birth  certificate,  and  how  he  had  been 
told  of  having  been  born  in  great 
haste.  It  happened  on  a  night  there 
was  a  heavy  snowfall.  His  father  and 
OCTOBER  1955 


mother  were  always  moving  about 
in  those  days.  They  were  coming 
down  out  of  the  mountain  for  the 
winter  and  stopped  to  camp  for  the 
night.  They  were  so  proud  to  have 
a  child  again  that  they  killed  one  of 
the  precious  sheep  for  a  good  meal. 

On  the  next  day  they  started  to 
move  again.  They  had  to  go  on  foot 
in  those  days,  and  his  mother  walked 
as  far  as  all  the  others  through  the 
snow  after  the  night  of  his  birth.  It 
is  not  wise  to  get  caught  in  the  snow 
in  the  mountains.  They  had  to  push 
on  so  hurriedly  that  he  was  called 
Little  No-Name. 

Except  in  the  mountains  there  was 
drouth  and  not  enough  grass  for  even 
a  small  band  of  sheep.  There  was 
drouth  for  three  years.  There  have 
been  many  years  of  drouth  altogether. 
His  father's  clothes  were  ragged  and 
thin  because  there  was  not  enough 
wool  for  weaving  clothes  for  all  the 
family.      At    night    his    father    and 


mother  kept  him  between  them  for 
warmth. 

There  was  no  corn  anywhere,  or 
beans  or  squash  or  anything.  My 
mother  could  not  feed  me,  and  I  be- 
came very  sick.  They  thought  their 
last  child  was  going  to  die. 

"No-Name  is  sick  because  he  is 
starving,"  my  mother  said  and  began 
to  weep.  "We  must  have  meat  if  he 
is  to  live."  That  is  when  No-Name's 
father  went  south  to  the  railroad 
lands  in  search  of  food. 

The  old  man  glanced  up  for  a  mo- 
ment and  noticed  a  dark  cloud  form- 
ing. They  would  get  wet,  and  it 
disturbed  him.  He  hoped  they  would 
be  dried  out  before  they  reached  the 
school. 

"At  the  school  you  will  learn  many 
things,  Little  Grandson,"  the  old  man 
said  quietly.  "You  will  learn  about 
the  railroad,  maybe." 

Then  he  lapsed  into  a  long  silence 
again,  thinking  about  the  things  that 
Little  Grandson  would  never  learn 
at    the    school    about    that    railroad. 

(Continued  on  following  page) 

705 


LITTLE  NO-NAME'S  GRANDSON 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

They  were  things  his  uncle  had  told 
him. 

The  railroad  came  before  I  was 
born,  he  was  thinking.  It  was  the 
Great  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  it  was  off  the  reservation.  But 
there  were  no  markers  to  indicate 
where  the  reservation  was.  The  land 
for  thirty  miles  on  each  side  of  the 
railroad  was  given  to  white  people, 
it  is  said,  though  many  Navajo  people 
lived  there.  The  Mexicans  and  white 
people  would  chase  the  Navajos  and 
try  to  run  them  off.  The  Navajo 
people  were  chased  wherever  they 
went,  it  seemed. 

The  Indian  Agent  at  Fort  Defiance 
tried  to  get  help  for  The  People.  He 
wrote  many  letters  to  "Washingdone," 
it  is  said,  telling  how  the  Navajo 
people  were  starving.  The  white  peo- 
ple look  to  their  government,  but  our 
people  could  only  look  to  the  moun- 
tains. The  Indian  Agent  did  not  get 
enough  help  from  the  government 
for  us.  He  got  only  $7500.00  for  a 
whole  year  for  everything  on  the 
reservation.  That  is  why  the  Navajo 
people  wandered  over  the  railroad 
lands  in  search  of  food.  It  was  about 
this  time  that  my  father  thought  I 
was  going  to  die  and  he  became 
desperate.  That  is  the  day  my 
father.  .  .  . 

T^hey  were  passing  White  Mesa  to 
■*•  the  south,  and  the  old  man  could 
vividly  picture  his  father  climbing  up 
the  side  of  that  mesa.  His  father's 
moccasins  were  thin,  and  because  of 
his  limp  he  had  to  crawl  much  of 
the  way.  His  hands  were  cut  from 
the  sharp  stones.  All  day  he  had  to 
crawl  through  the  mountain-rose 
thorns  and  other  brush.  He  had  to 
be  careful  not  to  be  seen  by  white 
men  or  Navajo  policemen  riding 
around.  His  legs  were  bleeding,  and 
his  feet  and  knees  were  swollen. 

On  the  south  edge  of  the  mesa  he 
peered  over  and  saw  some  cattle  with 
some  calves.  He  was  exhausted  from 
thirst,  but  he  did  not  dare  go  down 
near  the  cattle  or  into  the  wash  until 
after  dark.  He  just  lay  there  and 
rested. 

Then  he  crawled  down  to  the  wash 
and  found  some  water.  He  drank 
only  a  little,  knowing  the  danger 
after  prolonged  thirst.  But  even  that 
small  amount  made  him  sick.  After- 
wards he  was  able  to  drink  a  little 
706 


again.  Then  he  crawled  close  to 
where  he  had  seen  one  of  the  calves. 
He  got  very  close  to  it  and  seized  it 
in  his  arms.  My  father  became  very 
frightened  as  it  started  bawling 
loudly.  Quickly  he  cut  its  throat 
with  his  knife.  While  the  calf  was 
still  kicking,  Limper  drank  some  of 
the  blood  and  got  strength  from  it. 
He  could  not  save  the  blood,  for  he 
had  nothing  to  catch  it  in. 

In  the  dark  he  started  to  carry  back 
as  much  meat  as  he  could.  When 
it  began  to  get  light,  he  had  to  lie  in 
hiding  all  that  day.  He  did  not  dare 
build  a  fire  for  fear  he  would  be  dis- 
covered. 

The  old  man  was  so  deep  in 
thought  that  Little  Grandson's  voice 
startled  him. 

"All  is  beauty  on  White  Mesa," 
he  said. 

"Yes,  Little  Grandson,  all  is 
beauty,"  the  old  man  answered,  but 
there  was  a  great  lump  in  his  throat. 
He  was  thinking  of  the  horror  of  that 
day  for  his  mother  and  for  his  father 
who  had  saved  his  life. 

The  old  man's  head  slumped  and 
his  shoulders  were  hunched.  He  was 
thinking  how  his  father  returned  to 
his  hogan  that  day.  Two  men  had 
appeared,  coming  towards  the  hogan 
on  horses.  They  were  Navajo  po- 
licemen. As  they  drew  near,  his 
father  recognized  them  as  Walking- 
Hat  and  Bow-legs.  At  that  time  the 
Navajo  police  kept  riding  around 
vainly.  They  did  not  know  what  to 
do,  for  the  railroad  officals  kept  com- 
plaining   about    the    Navajo    people. 

Walking-Hat  drove  the  horses  over 
to  the  corral  as  Bow-legs  got  off  and 
walked  up  to  The  Limper. 

"I  see  you  have  fresh  meat,  Limp- 
er," Bow-Legs  said,  but  the  Limper 
did  not  answer  about  that  meat. 

"You  are  a  witch,"  Bow-legs  said. 
"Yes,  you  must  be  a  witch.  That  is 
how  the  fresh  meat  came  to  the  hogan, 
from  a  witch." 

The  Limper  turned  his  back,  then 
Bow-legs  threw  his  arms  around  the 
Limper.  Bow- legs  thought  my  father 
was  weak  because  of  his  crippled  leg, 
but  his  arms  were  very  strong.  The 
Limper  bent  over  quickly,  grasping 
Bow-legs  securely,  and  threw  him 
up  over  his  back.  Bow-legs  turned 
a  somersault  in  the  air  and  came  down 
on  his  back.  Then  he  drew  out  his 
knife,  but  the  Limper  quickly  fell  on 


him  and  hit  him  in  the  face  with  a 
rock.  Blood  streamed  down  Bow-legs' 
face  and  out  of  his  mouth,  and  he 
let  go. 

The  Limper  started  to  run,  but  he 
got  only  a  little  way.  He  could  not 
run  fast.  Walking-Hat  came  run- 
ning around  the  hogan  and  lifted  his 
gun  and  shot  my  father.  My  mother 
was  sobbing  and  ran  to  pick  him  up, 
but  the  bullet  had  gone  right  through 
him. 

Later  when  Bow-legs  recovered, 
he  told  everyone  that  my  father  was 
a  witch  because  he  had  supernatural 
strength.  Bow-legs  made  up  that 
story  because  the  railroad  officials 
were  complaining,  and  he  did  not 
know  what  to  do.  They  murdered 
my  father,  but  after  that  I  was  al- 
ways referred  to  as  Son  of  Former 
Witch.  That  made  some  people  think 
that  I  was  a  witch  maybe. 

A  s  the  wagon  reached  a  turn  in  the 
-^*-  road,  White  Mesa  was  left  be- 
hind them,  and  the  old  man  leaned 
back  to  rest  himself. 

"The  past  is  now  behind  us,"  he 
said.  "We  must  look  ahead  to  the 
future,  I  think." 

"Yes,  Grandfather,"  the  boy  said, 
"it  is  good  to  look  ahead.  I  am  hap- 
py to  go  to  the  school." 

Then  the  rain  came,  and  they 
pulled  a  blanket  up  around  their 
shoulders  and  drew  their  heads  down 
tight  on  their  necks.  As  they  drove 
into  the  school  grounds,  the  inter- 
preter was  standing  just  inside  the 
door.  They  tied  the  team  to  the 
fence  and  hurried  inside,  looking  wet 
and  bedraggled,  but  still  composed 
with  dignity.  Moving  slowly  and 
quietly,  they  followed  the  interpreter 
down  the  hallway  where  the  teacher 
was  starting  to  lock  the  door  of  the 
empty  classroom.  He  looked  as 
though  he  wanted  to  hurry,  but  the 
old  man  sat  down  and  indicated  he 
would  stav  until  he  had  told  what 
he  had  come  to  say. 

As  he  finished  the  story  of  what  he 
had  been  thinking— of  the  fighting 
and  the  hunger,  and  the  murder  of 
his  father,  and  about  the  sheep,  and 
conservation  and  all  the  other  things 
— the  teacher  glanced  at  the  clock. 
He  appeared  to  be  impatient.  He 
said  that  the  past  is  behind  us,  that 
we  must  look  to  the  future. 

"That  is  good,"  said  the  wise  old 

man,   and  looked   around   the   room. 

(Continued  on  page  742) 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


— A  Three  Lions  Photo 


Painting  of  "Christ  at  Bethany"  by  Bauermeister. 


The  Other  Side  of  the  Equation 

by  Esther  Freshman 


The  problems  of  human  relation- 
ships are  very  much  before  us  in 
our  daily  living.  One  of  the  great- 
est pitfalls,  one  of  the  most  delaying 
actions  slowing  us  in  our  progress,  is 
our  failure  to  consider  all  the  factors 
in  making  our  evaluations,  in  form- 
ing our  opinions  about  our  fellow 
men. 

Probably  the  most  beautiful  and 
effective  way  that  God  teaches  us 
is  through  man  himself.  I  have  been 
particularly  blessed  in  the  friendship 
of  a.  man  who  lives  very  closely  at  all 
times  to  his  Creator.  This  friend  has 
dedicated  his  life  to  the  service  of 
humanity.  He  is  very  beloved  by 
those  who  know  him.  His  work  takes 
him  among  all  types  of  people.  It 
takes  him  into  various  homes,  and 
he  enters  these  homes  usually  at 
times  of  emergency,  often  times  of 
catastrophe,  when  both  the  home  and 
the  dwellers  are  exposed  without  that 
protective  sheathing  that  most  of  us 
are  apt  to  have  on  when  we  expect 
outsiders — a  sort  of  "company  best" 
front. 

Not  only  into  the  heart  of  the 
home  does  my  friend  go,  but  often  he 
must  also  go  deep  within  the  being 
of  the  individual.  He  sees  the  indi- 
OCTOBER  1955 


vidual  in  times  of  crisis,  in  times  of 
great  need,  in  times  of  despair  and 
discouragement,  in  times  when  the  in- 
dividual is  facing  the  consequences  of 
errors  he  has  made.  My  friend  is 
more  apt  to  be  exposed  to  the  raw 
material  than  the  finished  product. 
Yet,  never  have  I  known  a  man  to 
have  such  complete  faith  in  humanity. 
Never  have  I  known  a  man  to 
keep  before  himself  so  steadfastly  the 
perfect  image  of  man  as  he  wants  to 
be.  My  friend  keeps  the  candles  of 
faith  alight  everlastingly,  and  when- 
ever someone  is  in  the  darkness  of 
despair,  he  may  look  into  this  man's 
eyes  and  see  reflected  there  the  can- 
dle of  his  faith  burning  brightly. 

I  have  never  known  him  to  "give 
up"  so  far  as  his  faith  in  an  indi- 
vidual is  concerned.  His  vision  is 
fixed  on  the  good. 

My  friend  has  a  special  expression 
that  he  uses.  He  always  says:  "Now 
let  me  tell  you  the  other  side  of  the 
equation.  .  .  ." 

The  other  evening  a  group  of  us 
were  talking  about  a  prominent  actor. 
A  great  deal  of  unsavory  and  un- 
complimentary comment  had  been 
in  the  newspapers  about  this  person, 
and  most   of  us   in   the  group   were 


adding  our  particular  tidbits  of  un- 
flattering information.  My  friend 
listened  attentively,  and  then  very 
quietly  he  broke  in,  saying:  "Now 
let  me  tell  you  the  other  side  of  the 
equation."  And  he  told  us  a  story 
of  a  magnificent  good  that  had  been 
performed  by  this  very  man  we  had 
been  quite  willing  to  condemn. 
Amazingly,  the  good  had  been  per- 
formed to  one  of  our  own  circle  of 
friends.  Through  the  courtesy  of 
this  maligned  actor,  a  man  we  all 
knew  who  had  walked  so  long  in  dis- 
couragement, so  long  soul  hungry  and 
body  hungry,  had  been  given  a  job — 
a  work  of  great  dignity,  suitable  to 
his  prestige  and  education  and  train- 
ing. This  actor  we  were  so  willing,  so 
eager  to  judge  badly,  had  seen  the 
good  in  our  discouraged  friend,  had 
had  faith  in  him,  and  had  invested 
his  own  trust,  his  own  finances  in 
him. 

This  man  who  makes  the  equation 
come  out  right  sees  things  in  their 
true  perspective.  He  sees  the  good 
side.  He  balances  the  equation  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  good — the  law 
of  love.  My  friend  perpetually  sees 
this  other,  or  to  put  it  more  accurately, 
he  always  sees  the  others  side. 

707 


TVo  Views 

of  Church  Hislory 


by  Dr.  Hugh  Nibley 

BRIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 

Part  IV 


One  Act  or  Three? — Few  histori- 
ans at  the  present  time  will  main- 
tain that  the  Christian  church 
today  is  the  result  of  a  smooth  and 
unbroken  transmission  of  institutions 
and  doctrines  without  change  or  shad- 
ow of  change  since  the  days  of  the 
Apostles.  Since  no  one  doubts  the 
necessity  and  convenience  of  making 
certain  major  divisions  in  church  his- 
tory, we  would  strongly  urge  that  the 
most  meaningful  and  logical  division 
is  that  so  clearly  indicated  by  the  New 
Testament  itself.  To  accept  those 
clearly  marked  periods  of  (1)  revela- 
tion, (2)  darkness,  and  (3)  resto- 
ration, however,  is  to  reject  the  whole 
conventional  concept  of  church  his- 
tory as  one  long  unbroken,  irresistible 
victory  campaign. 

Yet  even  conventional  church  his- 
tory is  now  being  forced  to  spoil  the 
simplicity  of  the  accepted  plot  of  the 
growing  admission  that  the  early 
church  was  something  very  special. 
It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  history  of 
the  church  that  does  not  honor  the 
"primitive  church"  with  a  section  all 
of  its  own;  but  of  recent  years  the 
uniqueness  and  peculiarities  of  that 
church  have  become  objects  of  the 
most  intense  research,  which  is  show- 
ing more  and  more  how  totally  dif- 
ferent the  original  Church  of  Christ 
was  from  any  of  the  churches  claim- 
ing to  be  derived  from  it  or  from  any 
of  the  ideas  which  scholars  have 
hitherto  entertained  concerning  it. 

The  term  "primitive  church"  is  it- 
self revealing.  The  early  Christians, 
far  from  thinking  of  themselves  as 
primitive,  tell  us  often  that  they  are 
living  at  the  end  of  an  aeon  in  a 
world  ripe  for  destruction.  Though 
they  lived  by  prophecy,  no  allowances 
or  provisions  were  made  by  them  for 
greater  refinements  or  improvements 
in  their  own  institution  in  the  years 
ahead.  The  church  of  the  Apostles 
was  ready  for  the  end,  coming  as  it 
did  at  "the  end  of  the  aeon,"  not  at 
the  beginning  of  a  long  period  of 
progress. 
708 


Still  the  designation  and  idea  of  a 
"primitive  church"  are  necessary  to 
later  generations  both  as  a  salve  to 
conscience  (this  is  very  clear  in 
Chrysostom)  and  a  sop  to  vanity 
(equally  ditto  in  Jerome),  for  if  the 
glaring  differences  between  the  orig- 
inal and  the  later  churches  could  not 
be  denied,  they  would  have  to  be 
explained;  and  the  only  explanation 
that  could  save  the  face  of  Christian- 
ity— let  alone  make  it  look  good — 
was  that  which  decided  with  patron- 
izing indulgence  that  the  early 
church  was  just  "primitive"  and  its 
disappearance  a  necessary  and  in- 
evitable phase  in  the  growth  and 
progress  of  an  institution. 

The  folly  and  vanity  of  a  theory 
that  looks  upon  the  church  of  the 
Apostles  with  patronizing  superiority 
and  glories  in  the  irrelevant  and 
highly  suspect  virtues  of  size  and 
sophistication  as  proofs  of  progress, 
needs  no  comment.  A  basic  lack  of 
conviction  in  the  argument  may  be 
seen  in  desperate  attempts  to  dress 
the  primitive  church  up  to  look  like 
modern  churches;  serious  students 
know  better,  of  course,  but  that  does 
not  keep  the  producers  of  movies  and 
television  from  assuring  the  general 
public  that  the  church  really  has 
changed  hardly  at  all,  and  showing, 
to  prove  it,  ancient  Apostles  dressed 
up  as  eighth-century  bishops  or 
mouthing  the  sentimental  common- 
places of  the  schools  through  the 
whiskers  and  robes  of  traveling  soph- 
ists. 

But  looking  behind  such  flimsy 
tricks,  we  find  that  earnest  investiga- 
tors of  church  history,  Catholic  and 
Protestant  alike,  are  discovering  as  it 


were  for  the  first  time  the  great  gulf 
that  lies  between  the  ancient  church 
and  conventional  Christianity,  and 
being  surprisingly  frank  in  their  com- 
ments. More  and  more  they  are  forc- 
ing themselves  also  to  face  up  to  the 
dark  interval  of  the  second  act,  though 
most  of  them  still  cling  desperately 
to  the  old  rewrite  interpretations  of 
"Advance  through  Storm,"  "Strug- 
gle and  Progress,"  "The  Certain  Vic- 
tory," etc. 

This  interpretation  so  deranges  the 
plot  that  the  third  act  must  either  be 
dropped  out  entirely  or  completely 
rewritten:  naturally  we  can't  have  a 
"restitution  of  all  things"  if  all  things 
have  been  carefully  preserved  and 
steadily  improved  through  the  cen- 
turies. And  so  we  have  the  third 
and  final  act,  the  great  culminating 
events  of  world  history,  studiously 
effaced  by  church  historians:  what 
we  have  to  reckon  with,  we  are  now 
told,  was  a  "spiritual"  second  coming 
which  has  already  taken  place;  it 
was  "the  Easter  experience,"  some 
suggest — Pentecost,  according  to  oth- 
ers; it  was  all  a  mistake,  a  tragic 
miscalculation,  according  to  another 
school;  it  is  fulfilled  in  the  Real  Pres- 
ence, to  follow  another;  others  have 
maintained  that  since  the  crucifixion 
was  the  supreme  event  of  all  time, 
all  that  followed  was  mere  anticlimax; 
others  have  made  the  second  coming 
a  mystical  experience.  And  so  they 
go:  whatever  it  is,  that  third  act,  as 
we  have  called  it,  is  not  the  great 
event  predicted  by  the  scriptures.  Acts 
two  and  three  are  out! 

What,  then,  did  happen  after  the 
Apostles?  Do  we  have  reliable  re- 
ports for  the  years  following?  Was 
it  all  bad?  How  did  the  Christians 
continue  to  think  of  the  world  and 
their  position  in  it?  Did  they  ex- 
pect the  lights  to  go  out?  Were  they 
surprised  when  they  did?  Were  they 
disappointed  when  the  Lord  failed 
to  come?  Did  they  believe  that  what 
was  happening  actually  was  the  end? 
Such  questions  are  the  special  food 
of  church  history  in  our  day.  The 
mere  fact  that  they  are  being  asked 
now  as  never  before  is  an  invitation 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


— Photo  by  Camera  Clix  from  the  painting  Crucifixion  of  Peter   by  Reni   Gitido 

With  the  removal  of  the  apostles,  there  came  a  long  period  of  darkness,  ending  with 
the  restoration  of  the  gospel. 


to  Latter-day  Saints  to  enter  the  dis- 
cussion which  seems  at  last  to  be 
turning  to  their  own  point  of  view. 
The  history  of  the  church  is  not 
a  one-act  play,  a  single,  long,  pro- 
tracted happy  ending  from  start  to 
finish,  with  a  baffled  and  frustrated 
villain  vainly  trying  to  score  a  telling 
point  against  a  cause  that  is  always 
assured  of  success  and  never  in  any 
real  danger.  Yet  such  a  fantastically 
wishful  and  unreal  plot  is  the  only 
alternative  to  the  one  set  forth  in 
OCTOBER  1955 


the  Bible  which  places  the  happy  end- 
ing at  the  end — "when  his  glory  shall 
be  revealed  and  all  made  glad" — 
with  a  time  of  heaviness  preceding 
it,  during  which  the  prince  of  this 
world  holds  sway  and  all  the  prom- 
ised glories  to  come  are  forgotten  in 
a  tragic  preoccupation  with  the  things 
which  please  men.  The  story  of  the 
church  is  unfolded  not  in  one  act  but 
three. 

This  is  not  the  discovery  of  modern 
scholars    or    the    private    hypothesis 


of  Latter-day  Saints — through  the 
centuries  the  church  fathers  have 
been  aware  of  it,  and  it  has  worried 
them  a  great  deal.  It  is  very  im- 
portant to  understand  that  the  fate 
of  God's  people  on  earth,  specifically, 
the  course  of  "the  church"  through 
the  ages  (for  the  idea  of  "the  church" 
is  a  very  ancient  one)  has  been  a  sub- 
ject of  vital  concern  to  certain  men  in 
every  period  of  history. 

From  the  most  ancient  prophets  to 
the  latest  monograph,  men  have  not 
ceased  talking  and  speculating  on 
this  theme.  As  the  Lord  was  not  the 
first  prophet  sent  into  the  vineyard, 
neither  was  his  Church  without  prece- 
dent in  the  world.  Church  history 
does  not  begin  suddenly  one  day  in 
Palestine,  any  more  than  the  story 
of  the  redemption  begins  with  cer- 
tain shepherds  watching  their  flocks. 
The  mighty  drama  goes  back  to  the 
very  beginning  and  leaves  its  mark 
in  the  documents  of  every  age.  It  is 
a  far  bigger  thing  than  the  seminar- 
ists and  schoolmen  realize. 

Tn  the  preceding  articles  we  first  in- 
■*-  dicated  the  strong  and  undeniable 
bias  which  has  controlled  the  writing 
of  conventional  church  history  since 
the  days  of  Eusebius.  Next  we  of- 
fered a  brief  preliminary  sketch,  based 
on  the  New  Testament,  of  another 
view  of  church  history.  That  view 
may  be  thus  briefly  summed  up:  the 
original  followers  of  Christ  sought 
their  reward  and  placed  all  their 
hopes  in  the  other  world  and  the  re- 
turn of  the  Lord  in  judgment,  be- 
lieving that  as  far  as  this  world  is 
concerned  the  work  of  the  church 
would  not  prosper  but  soon  come  to 
a  close,  being  followed  by  a  long 
time  of  darkness  that  would  end  only 
with  the  restoration  of  all  things  in 
preparation  for  the  coming  of  the 
Lord.  Such  in  barest  outline  is  the 
substance  of  "the  other  view"  of 
church  history.  It  will  be  readily 
admitted  that  it  is  not  the  conven- 
tional view,  and  it  remains  for  us 
now  to  show  from  the  early  sources 
that  it  most  certainly  was  the  true 
authentic  view  of  church  history  held 
by  the  members  of  the  Early  Church 
in  Apostolic  times  and  after.  We 
shall  also  show  the  present  trend 
among  students  of  church  history  to- 
wards the  recognition  of  glaring  de- 
fects in  the  conventional  picture  and 
increasing  awareness  of  the  existence 
and  the  validity  of  the  earlier  con- 
cept. 

(To  he  continued) 

709 


Timeless  Principles  of  Family  Relationships 


by  Victor  A.  Christopherson 


Iet  that  man  who  intends  to  be- 
come a  husband,  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  its  righteous- 
ness, and  learn  to  govern  himself 
according  to  the  law  of  God;  for  he 
that  cannot  govern  himself,  cannot 
govern  others."  (Cited  in  Scrapbook 
of  Mormon  Literature  1:453.) 

This  counsel  is  as  wise  and  ap- 
plicable today  as  when  set  forth  by 
Elder  Orson  Pratt  in  1854,  a  century 
ago.  In  his  writings,  Elder  Pratt  set 
forth  and  elaborated  upon  some  time- 
less principles  of  child  rearing  and 
family  relationships.  Many  of  the 
ideas  that  Elder  Pratt  expressed  can 
be  found  today  in  college  textbooks, 
written  by  authorities  on  family  re- 
lationships. Indeed,  the  degree  of 
compatibility  and  harmony  between 
the  century-old  writing  and  some 
modern-day  ideas  is  striking. 

Some  of  Elder  Pratt's  statements 
could,  perhaps,  be  better  expressed  for 
people  today  in  contemporary  ter- 
minology, but  the  implied  principles 
very  likely  would  remain  the  same. 
For  example,  Elder  Pratt  wrote: 

"Let  each  mother  commence  with 
her  children  when  young,  not  only 
to  teach  and  instruct  them,  but  to 
chasten  and  bring  them  into  the  most 
perfect  subjection;  for  then  is  the  time 
when  they  are  most  easily  conquered, 
and  their  tender  minds  are  the  most 
susceptible  of  influence  and  govern- 
ment." (Ibid.,  1:454.) 

It  seems  rather  likely  that  the  pres- 
ent-day equivalents  of  the  words 
subjection  and  conquered,  might  be 
co-operation  and  trained,  respectively. 

Among  the  Latter-day  Saints,  the 
family  plays  a  vital  role.  The  im- 
portance of  the  family  and  marriage 
in  both  time  and  eternity  is  stressed. 
One  of  the  loftiest  aspirations  of  man, 
exaltation,  depends  in  large  measure 
upon  the  existence  and  quality  of 
family  organization.  In  eternity, 
families  will  assume  an  increasingly 
wonderful  and  meaningful  signifi- 
cance. In  light  of  the  theological 
emphasis  upon  the  family,  it  seems 
less  surprising  that  a  century  ago 
Elder  Orson  Pratt  and  others  were 
able  to  write  and  comment  on  family 

710 


relationships  with  such  timeless  in- 
sight and  understanding. 

One  of  the  main  points  of  issue 
that  psychologists  take  with  the  prac- 
tice of  corporal  punishment  in  disci- 
plining children  is  that  very  often  the 
spanking  relieves  the  feelings  of  the 
parent  while  merely  adding  to  the 
misery  of  the  child,  particularly  when 
such  punishment  is  administered  in 
anger.  Elder  Pratt's  concern  over  the 
child's  welfare  is  very  clearly  and 
soundly  stated.  It  is  all  the  more  in- 
teresting considering  the  fact  that,  at 
the  time  of  his  writing,  the  philosophy 
in  vogue  was  that  children  were  to  be 
seen  and  not  heard,  and  should  they 
have  the  impudence  to  manifest  oc- 
casional independence  of  thought  or 
action,  as  all  children  at  times  do,  a 
good  sound  spanking  was  the  ever 
handy  remedy. 

Elder  Pratt  wrote: 

"Do  not  correct  children  in  anger. 
An  angry  parent  is  not  as  well  pre- 
pared to  judge  the  amount  of  punish- 
ment which  should  be  inflicted  upon 
the  child  as  one  that  is  more  cool  and 


exercised  with  reflection,  reason,  and 
judgment.  Let  your  children  see  you 
punish  them,  not  to  gratify  an  angry 
disposition  .  .  .  but  as  one  that  seeks 
their  welfare.  ...  Be  deliberate  and 
calm  in  your  counsels  and  reproofs, 
but  at  the  same  time  use  earnestness 
and  decision."  (Ibid.,  1:455.)  These 
are  words  that  many  parents  could 
heed  to  good  advantage. 

One  of  the  major  objectives  of 
leaders  in  child  development  and  fam- 
ily relationships  is  to  help  parents 
and  students  recognize  and  appreciate 
the  level  of  development  of  the  child 
and  individual  differences  among 
children.  It  is  only  when  these  two 
factors  are  well  understood  that  the 
family  can  realize  its  optimum  in  de- 
velopment and  good  relationships.  To 
expect  more  of  children  than  their 
developmental  age  or  native  abilities 
enables  them  to  produce,  is  to  en- 
courage nervousness  and  feeling  of 
inferiority.  This  point  did  not  escape 
Elder  Pratt,  indeed,  he  very  succintly 
pointed  out  the  close  relationship  be- 

(Continued  on  page  747) 


Sgj^^v^^^SgK 


— A    Lambert    Photo 

Govern  children  as  parents  and  not  as  tyrants;  for  they  will  be  parents  in  their  turn 
and  will  be  very  likely  to  adopt  that  form  of  government  in  which  they  have  been 
educated. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


imHBilii 


RICHES 

AT  YOUR 

FEET 


by  Ezra  J.  Pouhen 


"':'     ■   ;::     .;: 


— Harold  M.  Lambert  Studios 
The  garden  may  consist  of  a  few  square  rods  in  the  backyard  or  it  may  include 
an  area  up  to  an  acre  or  more. 


If  you  want  to  be  rich  in  material 
and  spiritual  values  alike,  get  hold 
of  a  piece  of  the  good  earth  and 
make  it  produce.  This  is  an  answer 
to  high  prices,  high  taxes,  and  the 
rising  threat  of  insecurity.  Besides, 
living  close  to  the  earth  is  to  learn 
the  ways  of  God. 

Though  you  may  have  overlooked 
the  fact,  as  millions  of  others  have 
done,  a  home  garden,  pouring  its 
vegetables  and  fruits  together  with 
the  many  dainties  derived  from  them 
into  the  storage  bins  and  on  the  table, 
has  been  a  basic  factor  in  helping 
many  families  rise  to  a  position  of 
relative  wealth  and  affluence,  in  ad- 
OCTOBER  1955 


dition  to  brightening  the  individual 
virtues  so  important  in  Christian 
fellowship. 

As  a  boy,  I  learned  through  the 
family  grapevine  about  Harry  Harker 
who,  in  addition  to  being  a  leader  in 
the  Church,  frequently  lent  money  to 
many  people  in  the  community  who 
were  glad  to  give  him  a  fair  interest. 
Harry  was  a  quiet  sort  of  person, 
working  around  at  ordinary  jobs. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  reason  why 
he  should  have  more  financial  assets 
than  anyone  else,  but  on  rare  occa- 
sions he  revealed  the  secret  of  his 
success. 

"When    1    was    married,"    he    ex- 


plained with  a  sly  twinkle,  "I  said 
to  Martha,  'Now,  Honey,  would  you 
like  a  big  house  and  no  garden  or  a 
little  house  with  a  garden?' : 

Martha  replied,  "I'll  take  the  little 
house  with  a  garden."  The  Harkers 
worked  thriftily  on  their  little  pro- 
duction project,  and  soon  their  vege- 
tables and  fruit  trees  grew  so  abun- 
dantly you  could  hardly  see  the  tiny 
house  from  the  road.  With  an  ade- 
quate food  supply  at  his  very  door, 
Harry  had  no  trouble  saving  a  good 
portion  of  his  earnings,  and  as  the 
little  Harkers  came  along,  each 
learned  to  contribute  his  share  of 
effort  to  the  undertaking.  In  general, 
the  Harkers  had  the  best  of  every- 
thing. Always  debt  free,  they  had  a 
safe  margin  in  their  favor.  They  were 
also  the  first  to  help  others  when 
such  help  was  needed. 

HPhe  garden  may  consist  of  a  few 
*■  square  rods  in  the  backyard  or 
it  may  include  an  area  up  to  an  acre 
or  more.  The  advantage  of  the  larger 
lot  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  furnishes 
ample  space  to  branch  out  into  the 
many  different  fruit  trees  such  as 
apple,  pear,  peach,  and  plum,  to- 
gether with  several  types  of  bush 
fruits.  These  make  a  year-round 
menu  when  properly  processed  by 
home  canning. 

Good  soil  and  water  are  necessary. 
Most  soil,  however,  can  be  brought 
into  good  shape  for  gardening  with- 
in a  few  seasons  by  the  application 
of  manure,  leaves,  and  other  organic 
matter.  Sometimes  it  pays  to  use 
(Continued  on  page  740) 
711 


Solomon  Mack 
and  His  Family 


PART  2 


by    Archibald  F.    Bennett 

SECRETARY,  GENEALOGICAL  SOCIETY 


*m^£Mmmm&m 


With  rangers   in   front,   followed 
by  provincials  and  regulars   (in 
solid   red   masses),   the   English 
pushed  forward  to  the  assault. 

Across  the  rough  ground,  with  its  maze 
of  fallen  trees  .  .  .  ,  they  could  see  the  top 
of  the  breastwork,  but  not  the  men  behind 
it;  when,  in  an  instant,  all  the  line  was 
obscured  by  a  gush  of  smoke,  a  crash  of 
exploding  fire-arms  tore  the  air,  and  grape- 
shot  and  musket-balls*  swept  the  whole  space 
like  a  tempest.  .  .  .The  English  had  been 
ordered  to  carry  the  works  with  the  bayonet; 
but  their  ranks  were  broken  by  the  obstruc- 
tions through  which  they  struggled  in  vain 
to  force  their  way,  and  they  soon  began  to 
fire  in  turn.  The  storm  raged  in  full  fury 
for  an  hour.  The  assailants  pushed  close  to 
the  breastwork;  but  there  they  were  stopped 
by  the  bristling  mass  of  sharpened  branches, 
which  they  could  not  pass  under  the  mur- 
derous cross-fires  that  swept  them  from  front 
and  flank.  At  length  they  fell  back,  ex- 
claiming that  the  works  were  impregnable. 
Abercrombie,  who  was  .  .  .  a  mile  and  a 
half  in  the  rear,  sent  orders  to  attack  again, 
and  again  they  came  on  as  before. 

The  scene  was  frightful:  masses  of  infuri- 
ated men  who  could  not  go  forward  and 
would  not  go  back;  straining  for  an  enemy 
they  could  not  reach,  and  firing  on  an 
enemy  they  could  not  see;  caught  in  the  en- 
tanglement of  fallen  trees;  tripped  by  briers, 
stumbling  over  logs,  tearing  through  boughs; 
shouting,  yelling,  cursing,  and  pelted  all  the 
while  with  bullets  that  killed  them  by  scores, 
stretched  them  on  the  ground,  or  hung  them 
on  jagged  branches  in  strange  attitudes  of 
death.  The  provincials  supported  the  regu- 
lars with  spirit,  and  some  of  them  forced 
their  way  to  the  foot  of  the  wooden  wall. 

...  As  twilight  came  on,  the  last  com- 
batant withdrew,  and  none  were  left  but 
the  dead.  Abercrombie  had  lost  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  nineteen  hundred 
and  forty-four  officers  and  men.20 

The  morning  after  the  battle  the 
English  re-embarked  in  haste,  "and 
retreated  to  the  head  of  the  lake  in  a 
disorder  and  dejection  wofully  [sic] 
contrasted  with  the  pomp  of  their 
advance.  A  gallant  army  was  sacri- 
ficed  by    the   blunders   of   its   chief." 

"The  army,"  wrote  Solomon  Mack, 
"returned  back  to  Lake  George."  In 
a  short  time,  on  the  eighth  of  August, 
he  was   in   another   dangerous   fight. 

fc>  o 

Montcalm,    strongly    reinforced,    took 

2°Parkman,    op.   cit.,  Vol.   II,   pp.  312-313,   317-318. 

712 


the  offensive  and  sent  out  strong 
scouting  parties  by  way  of  Wood 
Creek  and  South  Bay  to  harass  the 


English. 


A  large  scouting  party  of  the  enemy  came 
round  by  Skeenesborough,  at  the  half-way 
brook,  and  cut  off  a  large  number  of  our 
men  and  teams.  One  thousand  of  our  men 
set  out  to  go  to  Skeenesborough  after  the 
enemy,  five  hundred  of  them  were  sent  back, 
and  just  as  we  got  to  South  Bay  the  enemy 
got  out  of  our  reach. — the  enemy  went  to 
Ticonderoga  &  got  recruited,  then  they  came 
after  us.  We  scouted  by  Wood-Creek.  On 
the  13th  day  (of  August)  we  got  to  Fort 
Ann.  The  centery  [sic]  came  and  told  me 
that  the  enemy  was  all  around  us.  Major 
Putnam  led  out  the  party,  Maj.  Rogers  bro't 
up  the  rear;  marched  in  an  Indian  path 
three  quarters  of  a  mile — the  Indians  lay  in 
a  half-moon;  Major  Putnam  went  through 
their  ranks;  they  fired  upon  us — Major  Put- 
nam was  taken  and  tied  to  a  tree,  and  an 
Indian  would  have  killed  him  had  it  not 
been  for  a  French  Lieut,  who  rescued  his 
life — the  enemy  rose  like  a  cloud  and  fired 
a  volley  upon  us,  and  my  being  in  front 
brought  me  into  the  rear — I  turned  little  to 
the  right — the  tomahawks  and  bullets  flying 
around  my  ears  like  hail  stones,  and  as  I 
was  running,  I  saw  a  great  wind  fall  little 
forward,  which  seemed  impossible  for  me 
or  any  other  man  to  mount,  but  over  I 
went,  and  as  I  ran  I  looked  little  one  side, 
where  I  saw  a  man  wounded,  (the  Indians 
close  to  him)  who  immediately,  with  my 
help,  got  into  the  circle.  Gershom  Bowley 
(or  Rowley)  had  nine  bullets  shot  thro'  his 
clothes  and  remained  unhurt.  Ensign  Wor- 
cester had  nine  wounds,  scalped  and  toma- 
hawked, who  lived  and  got  well. 

The  battle  commenced  in  the  morning 
and  continued  until  3  o'clock,  when  they 
left  us.  We  gathered  our  dead  and  wounded 
up  in  a  ring;  there  was  half  of  our  men 
killed  and  wounded  and  taken,  we  sent  to 
Fort  Edward  for  relief  to  help  carry  our 
wounded,  it  being  80  in  number,  we  made 
biers  to  carry  them,  many  of  whom  died 
on  the  passage,  the  distance  being  14  miles.21 

This  vivid  account  is  good  history. 
Again  we  find  amplification  in  the 
account  by  Parkham: 

These  (French  scouting)  parties,  some  of 
which  consisted  of  several  hundred  men, 
were  generally  more  or  less  successful;  and 
one  of  them  .  .  .  surprised  and  destroyed 
a  large  wagon  train  escorted  by  forty  soldiers. 


21A  Narrative  of  Solomon  Mack,   pp.  7-9. 


When  Abercrombie  heard  of  it,  he  ordered 
Rogers  with  a  strong  detachment  of  provin- 
cials, light  infantry  and  rangers,  to  go  down 
the  lake  in  boats,  cross  the  mountains  to 
the  narrow  waters  of  Lake  Champlain,  and 
cut  off  the  enemy.  But  though  Rogers  set 
out  at  two  in  the  morning,  the  French  re- 
treated so  fast  that  he  arrived  too  late.  As 
he  was  on  his  way  back,  he  was  met  by 
a  messenger  from  the  general  with  orders 
to  intercept  other  French  parties  reported 
to  be  hovering  about  Fort  Edward.  On  this 
he  retraced  his  steps,  marched  through  the 
forest  .  .  .  ,  and  thence  made  his  way  up 
Wood  Creek  to  old  Fort  Anne,  a  relic  of 
former  wars,  abandoned  and  falling  to  de- 
cay. Here,  on  the  neglected  "clearing"  that 
surrounded  the  ruin,  his  followers  encamped. 
They  counted  seven  hundred  in  all,  and 
consisted  of  about  eighty  rangers,  a  body  of 
Connecticut  men  under  Major  Putnam,  and 
a  small  regular  force,  chiefly  light  in- 
fantry. .  .  . 

Up  to  this  time  Rogers  had  observed  his 
usual  caution,  commanding  silence  on  the 
march,  and  forbidding  fires  at  night;  but, 
seeing  no  signs  of  an  enemy,  he  forgot 
himself;  and  on  the  following  morning,  the 
eighth  of  August,  he  and  Lieutenant  Irwin, 
of  the  light  infantry,  amused  themselves  by 
firing  at  a  mark  on  a  wager.  The  shots 
reached  the  ears  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
French  and  Indians,  under  the  famous 
partisan  Marin,  who  at  once  took  steps  to 
reconnoitre  and  ambuscade  his  rash  enemy. 
For  nearly  a  mile  from  the  old  fort  the 
forest  had  formerly  been  cut  down  and 
burned;  and  Nature  had  now  begun  to 
reassert  herself,  covering  the  open  tract  with 
a  dense  growth  of  bushes  and  saplings  al- 
most impervious  to  anything  but  a  wild- 
cat, had  it  not  been  traversed  by  a  narrow 
Indian  path.  Along  this  path  the  men  were 
forced  to  march  in  single  file.  At  about 
seven  o'clock,  when  the  two  marksmen  had 
decided  their  bet,  and  before  the  heavy  dew 
of  the  night  was  dried  upon  the  bushes, 
the  party  slung  their  packs  and  set  out. 
Putnam  was  in  the  front  with  his  Con- 
necticut men;  Dalzell  followed  with  the 
regulars;  and  Rogers,  with  his  rangers, 
brought  up  the  rear  of  the  long  and  slender 
line.  Putnam  himself  led  the  way,  shoul- 
dering through  the  bushes,  gun  in  hand; 
and  just  as  the  bluff  yeoman  emerged  from 
them  to  enter  the  forest-growth  beyond,  the 
air  was  rent  with  yells,  the  thickets  before 
him  were  filled  with  Indians,  and  one  of 
them,  a  Caughnawaga  chief,  sprang  upon 
him,  hatchet  in  hand.  He  had  time  to 
cock  his  gun  and  snap  it  at  the  breast  of 
his  assailant;  but  it  missed  fire,  and  he  was 
instantly  seized  and  dragged  back  into  the 
forest.  .  .  .  Then  the  firing  began.  The 
French  and  Indians,  lying  across  the  path 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Marlow,  New  Hampshire,  home  of  Solomon  and  Lydia  Mack — 1761-1773 


in  a  semi-circle,  had  the  advantage  of  posi- 
tion and  surprise.  The  Connecticut  men 
fell  back  among  the  bushes  in  disorder;  but 
soon  rallied,  and  held  the  enemy  in  check 
while  Dalzell  and  Rogers — the  latter  of 
whom  was  nearly  a  mile  behind — were  strug- 
gling through  briers  and  thickets  to  their 
aid.  So  close  was  the  brushwood  that  it 
was  a  full  half  hour  before  they  could  get 
their  followers  ranged  in  some  kind  of 
order  in  front  of  the  enemy;  and  even  then 
each  man  was  forced  to  fight  for  himself 
as  best  he  could.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  The  firing  lasted  about  two  hours. 
At  length  some  of  the  Canadians  gave  way, 
and  the  rest  of  the  French  and  Indians  fol- 
lowed. .  .  .  Rogers  remained  on  the  field 
and  buried  all  his  own  dead,  forty-nine  in 
number.  Then  he  resumed  his  march  to 
Fort  Edward,  carrying  the  wounded  on  the 
litters  of  branches  till  the  next  day,  when 
he  met  a  detachment  coming  with  wagons 
to  his  relief.  A  party  sent  out  soon  after 
for  the  purpose  reported  that  they  had  found 
and  buried  more  than  a  hundred  French 
and   Indians.   .   .  . 

The  adventures  of  the  captured  Putnam 
were  sufficiently  remarkable.  The  Indians, 
after  dragging  him  to  the  rear,  lashed  him 
fast  to  a  tree  so  that  he  could  not  move  a 
limb,  and  a  young  savage  amused  himself 
by  throwing  a  hatchet  at  his  head,  striking 
into  the  wood  as  close  as  possible  to  the 
mark  without  hitting  it.  .  .  .  When  the 
retreat  began,  the  Indians  hurried  him  along 
with  them,  stripped  of  coat,  waistcoat, 
shoes,  and  stockings,  his  back  burdened  with 
as  many  packs  of  the  wounded  as  could  be 
piled  upon  it,  and  his  wrists  bound  so 
tightly  together  that  the  pain  became  in- 
tense. In  his  torment  he  begged  them  to 
kill  him;  on  which  a  French  officer  who  was 
near  persuaded  them  to  untie  his  hands 
and  take  off  some  of  the  packs.  .  .  .  When 
they  encamped  at  night,  they  prepared  to 
burn  him  alive,  stripped  him  naked,  tied 
him  to  a  tree,  and  gathered  dry  wood  to 
pile  about  him.  A  sudden  shower  of  rain 
interrupted  their  pastime;  but  when  it  was 
over  they  began  again.  ...  As  they  were 
yelling  and  dancing  their  delight  at  the  con- 
tortions with  which  he  tried  to  avoid  the 
rising  flames,  Marin  (the  French  com- 
mander) ,  hearing  what  was  going  forward, 
broke  through  the  crowd,  and  .  .  .  dashed 
aside  the  burning  brush,  untied  the  prisoner, 
and  angrily  upbraided  his  tormentors.22 


This  agrees  substantially  with  the 
account  already  given  by  Solomon 
Mack.  Of  his  subsequent  experiences 
after  the  fight  at  Ft.  Anne,  the  latter 
wrote: 

I  was  almost  beat  out,  but  I  went  to 
Albany  after  stores  and  returned  to  the 
army. — From  thence  I  went  home,  it  being 
in  the  fall,  and  tarried  through  the  winter.23 

His  discharge,  as  already  stated, 
was  dated  Nov.  18,  1758.  On  Dec.  3, 
1758  Solomon  Mack  paid  45  pounds 
to  Daniel  Beckwith  for  eight  acres  in 
the  North  Society  of  Lyme,  adjoining 
the  lot  he  had  previously  purchased.24 

He  became  acquainted  with  an  ac- 
complished young  woman  named 
Lydia  Gates,  who  was  a  schoolteacher. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Deacon 
Daniel  Gates,  who  was  a  man  of 
wealth,  living  in  the  town  of  East 
Haddam,  Connecticut.  "To  this 
young  woman,"  he  wrote,  "I  was 
married    shortly   after   becoming    ac- 

-•M   Narrative   of  Solomon  Mack,    p.   9. 
^Lyme  Deeds,    Vol.    10,   p.    153. 


quainted   with    her."    The    marriage 
record  reads: 

Solomon  Mack,  of  Lyme,  Conn.,  married 
Lydia  Gates  of  East  Haddam,  dau.  of  Dan'l, 
of  East  Haddam,  Jan.  4,  1759.25 

Lydia  Gates  was  the  daughter  of 
Daniel  Gates  and  Lydia  Fuller,  and 
was  baptized  in  the  East  Haddam 
Congregational  Church,  October,  29, 
1732.  Her  lineage  has  been  authen- 
tically traced  to  many  prominent 
American  colonists,  including  seven 
Mayflower  passengers:  Edward  Fuller 
and  wife  and  son  Samuel;  John 
Tilley  and  wife  and  daughter  Eliza- 
beth Tilley,  who  married  John  How- 
land,  another  passenger. 2,i  She  proved 
eminently  worthy  of  her  heritage 
and  in  turn  left  the  impress  of  her 
faith  and  refinement  and  culture  up- 
on the  generations  of  her  posterity. 

With  his  zest  for  activity  and 
getting  ahead  in  the  world,  Solomon 
Mack  was  soon  embarked  upon  other 
adventures. 

In  the  spring,  1759,  I  set  out  on  another 
campaign.  I  went  to_  Crown  Point,  and 
there  I  set  up  a  sutler's  shop  which  I  kept 
two  years,  by  means  of  a  clerk  I  employed 
for  that  purpose,  not  knowing  myself  how 
to  write,  or  read,  to  any  amount,  what 
others  had  written,  or  printed.  I  lost  my 
Clerk,  and  not  being  able  properly  to  ad- 
just accounts,  lost  'what  I  had  accumulated 
by  hard  industry  for  several  years,  all  for 
want  of  youthful  education. 

After  leaving  the  army  I  accumulated,  by 
industry,  a  handsome  sum  of  silver  and 
gold,  with  it  I  purchased,  in  the  town  of 
Granville,  sixteen  hundred  acres  of  land 
and  paid  for  it  on  delivery  of  the  deed,  but 
besides  I  was  to  clear  a  small  piece  of  land 
on  each  right  and  build  a  log  house.27 

(Continued  on  following  page) 


-5Lyme  Vital  Records,  Vol.   I,  p.  92. 
'MThe    Utah    Genealogical    and    Historical    Magazine, 
Apr.   1929,   Vol.  20,  pp.  64-74. 
27  A  Narrative  of  Solomon  Mack,  p.  9. 


-;-■'■  ■  :■:■.:.:':■'■':?■■■'■'■ "  ■ 


■■:■:  ■:■■■:.,. :>^-::j:: 


22Parkman,  op.   cit,  Vol.  II,  pp.  328-333. 

OCTOBER  1955 


Meetinghouse  in  Marlow,  New  Hampshire. 


713 


SOLOMON  MACK  AND  HIS  FAMILY 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

Numerous  grants  of  land  were  be- 
ing made  to  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  French  and  Indian  War.  Solo- 
mon Mack  well  knew  of  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  in  this  area  from  his  mili- 
tary service  and  scouting  expeditions. 
Granville  was  situated  just  east  of 
old  Ft.  Anne,  where  he  had  fought  in 
1758  with  Putnam  and  Rogers;  and 
it  lay  next  to  the  later  Vermont  line. 
It  .was  some  years  before  the  actual 
settlement  of  Granville  began. 

He  also  bought  land  in  Lyme.  On 
February  8,  1759  he  paid  the  "Pro- 
prietors of  the  Common  and  undivided 
Land  in  the  Township  of  Lyme"  18 
shillings  for  two  small  pieces  just 
north  of  his  own  house  and  barn  on 
his  home  lot.  On  April  6,  1761  he 
paid  40  pounds  for  16  acres  in  the 
North  Society  of  Lyme;  and  on  May 
9,  1761  he  paid  another  28  pounds, 
2  shillings  and  10  pence  for  an  addi- 
tional tract.28 

Meanwhile  the  older  brothers  and 
sisters  of  Solomon  Mack  had  grown 
to  maturity.  His  eldest  sister  Phebe 
had  married  Amos  Huntley,  her  rela- 
tive, May  21,  1749;  the  next  sister, 
Deborah,  had  married  Nathan  Wood- 
worth  of  Lyme,  June  23,  1756;  and 
Hannah,  next  after  Solomon,  had 
married  Levi  Bartholomew  of  Say- 
brook,  October  11,  1757.  His  younger 
brother  Samuel  had  married  Lydia 
Brainerd  of  East  Haddam,  February 
14,  1758.20  Hepzibah,  about  this 
time  became  the  wife  of  Abishai 
Tubbs.  Stephen,  at  the  age  of  18, 
enlisted  April  18,  1760,  in  the  New 
York  Provincial  Troops,  being  de- 
scribed in  a  muster  roll  as  aged  19, 
farmer,    born    Lyme,    Connecticut.30 

In  the  campaign  of  1762  he  enlisted 
on  March  24  in  the  First  Connecticut 
Regiment.  He  was  reported  dead  on 
December  10,  1762.  Two  cousins, 
Orlando  Mack  and  Stephen  Mack, 
who  enlisted  on  March  15,  were  re- 
ported dead  on  December  5  and 
September  5,  respectively.30 

About  130  miles  north  of  Lyme, 
Connecticut,  was  an  area  in  New 
Hampshire  which  was  chartered  as 
a  township  named  Marlow,  and 
granted  on  October  7,  1761  to  Wil- 
liam Noyes  and  sixty-three  others. 
"The  grantees  were  from  Connecticut, 

-sLyme  Deeds,  Vol.    10,   pp.  384,   385,   387. 

2»Lyme  V.  R.,  Vol.  1,  pp.  53,  91,  88;  East  Had- 
dam  V.   R.,   Vol.   LR6,   p.  513. 

^'Muster  Rolls  of  New  York  Provincial  Troops,  1760, 
p..  234,  in  New  York  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  1891;  French- 
Indian  War  Rolls,  Vol.  II,  pp.  314,  319,  in  Conn. 
Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  Vol.  X. 

714 


principally  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
towns  of  Lyme  and  Colchester. 
Among  the  first  settlers  were  Thomas 
and  Samuel  Gustin,  Elisha  and  Solo- 
mon Mack,  Jasper  and  Nathan  Hunt- 
ley, and  Joseph  Tubbs."31  These 
were  virtually  all  relatives.  A  graphic 
account  is  given  by  Solomon  Mack  of 
their  pioneering  experiences: 

In  1761,  we  moved  to  the  town  of  Mar- 
low,  where  we  remained  until  we  had  four 
children.  When  we  moved  there  it  was 
no  other  than  a  desolate  and  dreary  wilder- 
ness. Only  four  families  resided  within 
forty  miles.  Here  I  was  thrown  into  a 
situation  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  talents 
and  virtues  of  my  excellent  wife;  for,  as  our 
children  were  deprived  of  schools,  she  as- 
sumed the  charge  of  their  education,  and 
performed  the  duties  of  an  instructress  as 
none,  save  a  mother,  is  capable  of.  Precepts 
accompanied  with  examples  such  as  hers, 
were  calculated  to  make  impressions  on  the 
minds  of  the  young,  never  to  be  forgotten. 

She,  besides  instructing  them  in  the 
various  branches  of  an  ordinary  education, 
was  in  the  habit  of  calling  them  together 
both  morning  and  evening,  and  teaching 
them  to  pray;  meanwhile  urging  upon  them 
the  necessity  of  love  toward  each  other,  as 
well  as  devotional  feelings  towards  Him 
who  made  them. 

In  this  manner  my  first  children  became 
confirmed  in  habits  of  piety,  gentleness,  and 
reflection,  which  afforded  great  assistance 
in  guiding  those  who  came  after  them,  in 
the  same  happy  channel.  The  education 
of  my  children  would  have  been  a  more 
difficult  task,  if  they  had  not  inherited 
much  of  their  mother's  excellent  disposi- 
tion.32 

The  pain  and  the  hazards  of  those 
experiences  on  the  frontier  called  for 
the  utmost  hardihood  and  grim  en- 
durance. 

I  then  proceeded  into  the  back  country 
to  clear  me  a  farm.  Soon  I  began  to  work 
in  the  woods,  but  unfortunately  cut  my 
leg  and  lay  under  the  Doctors  care  the  whole 
season,  which  cost  me  a  large  sum  and 
well  nigh  took  my  life.  I  underwent  every- 
thing but  death,  but  thought  nothing  of  the 
hand  that  inflicted  the  chastisement.  My 
family  arrived,  and  we  were  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  could  do  no  business.  Previous  to 
this,  however,  I  freighted  a  vessel  and  went 
to  New  York,  where  I  sold  my  cargo  ex- 
tremely high  and  returning  was  overtaken 
by  a  gale  of  wind,  my  vessel  was  much 
damaged;  but  we  made  shift  and  got  to 
Long  Island,   and   there  we   left  the   vessel. 

I  arrived  at  home  sometime  in  the 
winter,  poor  enough,  the  vessel  did  not 
arrive  till  the  next  spring.  Afterwards  I 
broke  my  wrist,  with  which  I  had  a  great 
deal  of  pain  and  expense;  for  a  long  time 
I  was  unable  to  do  any  labour.  Though  I 
still     sought     to    make    myself    great     and 


31Hammond:  Town  Papers,  New  Hampshire,  Vol. 
XII,    p.    572. 

:aHistory  of  Joseph  Smith,  By  his  mother,  Lucy 
Smith,    1945,   ed.    pp.   5-6. 


happy,  in  the  way  I  was  educated,  the  Lord 
would  not  suffer  me  to  prosper.  I  was  not 
yet   discouraged.33 

On  January  18,  1762,  "Solomon 
Mack  of  Lyme,  New  London  Co., 
Conn.,"  had  sold  his  dwelling  house, 
barn,  and  land,  about  60  acres,  in 
Lyme  for  72  pounds,  16s.  7d.  On 
April  4,  1765  he  sold  another  23  acres 
in  Lyme  with  dwelling  house  and 
barn  thereon  for  118  pounds  9s.  to  his 
brother-in-law  Abishai  Tubbs;  and 
14  acres  there  for  33  pounds  to  his 
brother-in-law  Amos  Huntley.  Nine 
days  later  he  disposed  of  7  acres  in 
Lyme  for  7  pounds;  and  on  August  1, 

1766  he  sold  23  acres  for  118 
pounds. 3i  It  appears  that  he  still 
maintained  residence  in  Lyme,  for  in 
each  deed  he  is  called  "Solomon  Mack 
of  Lyme." 

On  May  12,  1767  he  was  chosen 
"Deer  Reeve"  of  Marlow.  On  Octo- 
ber  1,    1770  and  again  on  May    15, 

1767  he  had  100  acres  of  land  laid 
out  to  him  in  Marlow. 35  In  a  petition 
of  the  Marlow  proprietors  dated 
December  30,  1771  appear  as  "Pro- 
prietors by  purchase"  the  names  of 
Abishai  Tubbs,  Elisha  Mack,  and 
Solomon  Mack.  At  least  ten  of  the 
other  men  who  signed  were  their 
relatives.  A  census  was  taken  of  the 
"Heds  of  famelys"  in  Marlow,  Janu- 
ary 7,  1772.  Among  the  twenty- 
eight  heads  were  eleven  known  rela- 
tives of  Solomon  Mack  on  either  the 
Mack  or  Huntley  sides.30  He  and  his 
brother  Elisha  were  included  among 
them;  also  Jasper  Huntley,  who  on 
December  31,  1768,  had  married 
Solomon's  youngest  sister  Azubah,  at 
Lyme. 

Solomon  Mack  and  his  wife  Lydia 
Gates  had  these  children,  all  except 
the  first  probably  born  in  Marlow: 

1.  Jason,  b.  abt.   1760. 

2.  Lovisa,  b.  abt.  1762. 

3.  Lovina,  probably  a  twin,  b.   abt.   1762. 

4.  Lydia,  b.  1764. 

5.  Stephen,  b.  June   15,   1766. 

6.  Daniel  Gates,  b.  abt.  1770. 

7.  Solomon,  b.  Jan.  28,   1773. 

Shortly  after  the  birth  of  the  child, 
Solomon,  Jr.,  the  family  moved  to 
nearby  Gilsum,  about  eight  miles 
southwest  of  Marlow.  The  village 
lies  in  a  deep  basin  surrounded  by 
(Continued  on  page  749) 

:::iA   Narrative   of  Solomon   Mack,   pp.   9-10. 
^Lyme  Deeds,  Vol.   10,  p.  450;  Vol.    11,   pp.  29,  79, 
277:   Vol.    13,   p.   410. 
■X'Town    Papers,   New   Hampshire,    Vol.    IX,    p.    548. 
mbid-,   p.   546. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Should  Parents 


Be  Teachers 


by  Elizabeth  Adamson 


\\WMU«WH\n*«HMtHH«VWH\WHHUV* 


>vn*****w*w* 


I  want  my  child  to  choose  for  him- 
self. I'm  not  having  him  join  any 
church  now.  When  he  is  old 
enough,  he  may  join  any  church 
he  wishes."  How  many  times  have 
you  heard  this  or  a  similar  phrase? 
This  seems  to  be  a  popular  no- 
tion among  modern  parents.  They 
are  reluctant  to  teach  their  own  re- 
ligious beliefs  to  their  children.  These 
parents  do  not  seem  to  realize  that 
history  has  proved  children  who  re- 
ceive no  spiritual  training  often  choose 
to  live  without  religion. 

Then  there  are  other  parents  who 
believe  children  should  be  taught  re- 
ligion; however,  the  church  should 
furnish  the  instruction.  They  have 
not  made  comparisons  to  see  that  the 
child  is  receiving  from  his  168  hours 
in  a  week  only  2l/2  hours  of  religious 
instruction.  Many  children  spend 
more  time  in  movies  than  in  church. 
Even  fundamentals  of  arithmetic  are 
taught  the  child  for  a  longer  period 
of  time.  Are  we  putting  first  things 
first? 

Most  parents  are  desirous  of  hav- 
ing their  children  grow  up  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  gospel,  a  vibrant 
conviction  of  its  truth,  and  an  atti- 
tude that  will  result  in  good  works. 
To  realize  this  ambition  parents  must 
take  some  of  the  responsibility  for 
their  training. 

The  first  and  most  important 
schooling  of  life  is  to  be  gained  at 
home.  Religion  should  be  the  founda- 
tion of  that  education,  for  it  is  the 
most  powerful  and  sustaining  force  in 
helping  us  meet  the  realities  of  life. 
It  helps  us  to  face  danger,  disappoint- 
ment, and  sorrow.  Religious  faith 
helps  us  to  put  our  trust  in  the  Lord. 
This  faith  must  be  acquired  early  in 
life  and  exercised  throughout  life.  It 
is  a  great  influence  and  blessing  in 
every  Latter-day  Saint  home. 
OCTOBER  1955 


The  parents  who  can  instil  devo- 
tion and  faith  in  God  .in  their  chil- 
dren already  have  laid  a  good  founda- 
tion for  a  fine  and  happy  life.  The 
value  of  thanking  our  Heavenly 
Father  for  our  food  and  of  family 
prayers  night  and  morning  gives 
spiritual  joy  and  gratitude  in  the 
home.  People  who  pray  together  do 
not  drift  very  far  apart. 

In  our  modern  Latter-day  Saint 
homes  we  must  teach  by  example  the 
principles  of  honesty,  dependability, 
and  righteousness.  It  is  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  home  to  teach  the  three 
R's:  righteous  living,  reverence,  and 
responsibility. 

How  do  we  teach  righteousness? 
By  righteous  living.  Reverence?  By 
devotion  to  prayer  and  to  Church 
principles  and  teachings.  Responsi- 
bility? Each  member  should  be  given 
responsibility.  Work  in  the  home 
should  be  shared,  so  that  parents  and 
young  people  can  spend  some  of  their 
leisure  time  together. 

Unless  we  are  capable  and  wise 
parents  who  teach  by  example  these 
principles  of  honesty,  dependability, 
and  righteousness,  we  fall  short  of 
our  goal  in  spite  of  all  our  other  ac- 
complishments. As  mothers,  upon 
whom  the  greater  share  of  the  teach- 
ing burden  falls,  when  we  die  it 
doesn't  matter  whether  we  have 
scrubbed  our  floors  every  day  or  not, 
but  it  does  matter  whether  or  not 
we  have  taught  our  children  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church,  including  the 
Word  of  Wisdom,  having  family 
prayer  daily,  and  whether  or  not  our 
children  have  a  testimony  of  the  gos- 
pel. 

Many  parents  of  years  gone  by  in- 
sisted their  word  was  law,  to  be  ab- 
solutely unquestioned.  This  attitude, 
because  of  its  severity,  drives  away 
rather  than  encourages.     Today  the 


opposite  extreme  is  being  maintain- 
ed. Parents  are  too  lax  in  teaching 
their  children. 

"Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go."  (Prov.  22:6.)  Family 
life  largely  forms  the  character  of 
the  children.  Good  character  is  es- 
sential for  success  in  all  phases  of 
life.  By  precept  and  example  (mere- 
ly telling  is  not  enough),  you  may 
teach  your  best  lessons.  Children 
are  taught  best  by  the  example  of 
love  in  duty  by  those  they  love. 

Consistency  of  teaching  and  of 
example  is  necessary,  also.  The  father 
of  one  family  held  a  very  high  posi- 
tion and  was  honored  and  respected 
by  his  neighbors  and  associates.  He 
was  old-fashioned  in  his  manner  of 
teaching  and  disciplining  the  chil- 
dren. His  word  was  law.  When  he 
spoke,  he  expected  to  be  obeyed.  He 
insisted  that  his  children  attend  all 
Church  gatherings.  He  was  also  very 
strict  with  himself  in  such  matters. 
But  the  inconsistency  was  that  his 
wife  always  stayed  home.  Conse- 
quently, between  being  driven  and 
forced  and  seeing  their  mother  do  the 
opposite,  the  children  wilfully  drifted 
away  from  the  Church  as  soon  as 
they  became  independent.  Example 
and  teaching  are  not  a  one  parent 
job.  It  requires  the  work  and  co- 
operation of  both  if  the  children  are 
to  fulfil  the  hopes  of  the  parents. 

Teaching  is  begun  while  a  child 
is  yet  in  the  cradle.  Babies  feel  the 
atmosphere.  What  joy,  to  teach  baby 
lips  their  first  lisping  prayer;  to  kneel 
yourself  or  to  bow  as  a  family  with 
a  parent  or  one  of  the  children  pray- 
ing for  all.  It  is  important  to  hear 
the  children  express  their  individual 
faith  and  prayers  for  the  blessings 
they  feel  are  needed  by  the  family. 

Faith  and  prayer  go  hand  in  hand. 
Faith  is  the  key  to  power  and  without 
it  life  is  empty. 

President  J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr., 
says, 

We  must  set  in  order  our  own  houses; 
we  must  see  that  our  children  are  properly 
taught;  they  must  understand  what  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord  are,  and  we  shall 
not  have  our  skirts  clear  if  we  do  not  do 
all  that  is  in  our  power,  not  alone  by  pre- 
cept, but  by  example,  in  bringing  them  to 
live  according  to  the  principles  of  the  gos- 
pel. In  no  other  way  can  salvation  and 
exaltation  come,  and  our  troubles  will  be 
great  ...  if  we  fail  in  teaching  our  children 
properly.  We  are  coming  too  much  to  the 
point  where  we  condone  sin  instead  of  for- 
giving the  repentant  sinner,  and  there  is  a 
difference  between  those  two  things. 

(Continued  on  page  762) 
715 


by  Mary  Ek  Knowles 


Norma  awoke  abruptly,  and  her 
first  thought  was,  How  can  I  keep 
Gramps  out  of  sight  during  the 
party  this  afternoon? 

Because  keep  him  out  of  sight  she 
must!  The  women — mostly  residents 
of  the  exclusive  neighborhood  into 
which  she  and  David  had  just  moved 
— would  take  one  look  at  Gramps; 
they'd  hear  his  crude  speech  and  be 
insulted  by  his  blunt  observations. 

Oh,  they'd  be  polite  enough  at  the 
party,  but  afterwards!  Norma  could 
almost  hear  Mrs.  Schuyler  Payne's 
cultured  voice,  "I  was  shocked  to  meet 
the  young  doctor's  grandfather.  Why, 
he's  nothing  but  a  tramp!  Dr.  Saw- 
yer seems  like  such  a  brilliant  young 
man,  but  really,  my  dears,  blood  will 
tell,  and  you  can't  be  too  particular 
whom  you  select  for  a  family  doctor." 

The  others  would  agree,  Mrs. 
Schuyler  Payne  being  the  undisputed 
leader  of  the  social  set,  and  that 
would  be  that.  She  and  David  might 
just  as  well  move  back  to  the  apart- 
ment on  Locust  Street! 

She  looked  at  David  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  exhaustion.  He'd  had  a 
night  call — the  Watson  baby  on 
Third  Avenue.  Maybe  he  would  get 
paid,  but  more  likely  he  wouldn't. 
The  good  practice,  the  paying  patients 
were  in  this  part  of  town,  and  now 
David  would  lose  out! 

"Why  did  Gramps  have  to  come?" 
she  thought  resentfully,  "and  if  he 
had  to  come,  why  did  he  pick  this 
time?" 

Gramps  had  arrived  yesterday 
morning,  unheralded.  It  had  been 
716 


very  early  when  Minnie  knocked  on 
the  door.  "Pardon  me  for  awaken- 
ing you,  Dr.  Sawyer,  but  there's  a 
tramp  at  the  back  door,  and — " 

"Well,  feed  him,"  David  mumbled 
sleepily.  "  'Never  turn  a  hungry 
man  away.'  That's  what  my  grand- 
mother used  to  say,"  his  voice 
dwindled  off. 

"He  insists  he  knows  you,"  Min- 
nie's voice  went  on,  something  akin 
to  panic  in  it.  "  'You  go  wake  the 
doc,'  he  said,  'tell  him  there's  some 
buttermilk  pancakes  on  the  griddle 
for  him.'  He's  down  there  now,  going 
through  my  cupboards!" 

David  sat  up  with  a  jerk.  "Gramps!" 
He  was  out  of  bed,  thrusting  his  arms 
into  his  dressing  gown. 

"Your  grandfather  is  here,  David?" 
Norma  had  asked. 

"Yes,  my  grandfather,  honey,"  he 
chuckled.  "And  unless  I'm  very  much 
mistaken  the  first  batch  of  pancakes 
is  all  ready!" 

Norma  had  trailed  after  David  out 
of  the  bedroom  and  down  the  stairs. 
She  thought  of  Colonel  Ashby,  Mrs. 
Schuyler  Payne's  father,  with  his 
dignified  walk  and  his  gold-headed 
cane.  He  was  retired,  too,  and  lived 
with  Mrs.   Payne. 

Norma  had  stopped  in  the  kitchen 
doorway  stunned  by  what  she  saw. 
Gramps  was  standing  at  her  new 
electric  stove,  one  of  her  embroidered 
tea  towels  tied  around  his  waist,  in- 
dustriously spooning  batter  out  of  a 
large  mixing  bowl  cradled  in  his  left 
arm,  and  spreading  it  in  the  heavy 
iron  skillet. 


Gramps  was  tall  and  ramrod  thin. 
He  was  wearing  a  baggy  pair  of  rusty 
black  trousers,  a  blue-striped  shirt 
without  collar  and  tie,  and  a  brown 
vest.  His  iron-gray  hair  showed  re- 
cent combat  with  comb  and  water, 
with  the  hair  the  victor. 

David  said,  "Gramps,  you  old 
tyrant!"  And  Gramps  turned  from  the 
stove,  his  whiskery  face  breaking  into 
a  smile.  "Where  did  you  come 
from?" 

Gramps  flipped  three  pancakes. 
"Hitchhiked  from  Pleasantville.  Got 
a  hankerin'  to  see  how  you  was 
makin'  out." 

"I'd  have  sent  you  money,  Gramps." 

Gramps  patted  his  chest.  "I've 
got  plenty  money  pinned  to  my  shirt. 
Always  wanted  to  go  cross  country, 
so  I  lit  out  last  Wednesday."  This 
was  Tuesday.  "I  can  only  stay  a 
week.  Eloise,"  Norma  learned  later 
that  Eloise  was  his  prize  China  sow, 
"is  due  to  farrow  then." 

Gramps  moved  over  to  the  cup- 
board, and  Norma  had  noticed  his 
walk,  the  quickness  of  his  step,  his 
feet  toeing  out  just  a  trifle.  "There 
now!"  he'd  flipped  golden-brown 
pancakes  onto  the  platter.  "Set  now 
and  eat  while  they're  hot.  You,  too," 
he  commanded  Minnie.  A  smile 
tugged  at  the  corners  of  his  full-lipped 
mouth,  and  his  nostrils  quivered  with 
amusement. 

"She  wasn't  goin'  to  let  me  in,"  he 
said.  ''  'Dr.  Sawyer  wouldn't  know 
anyone  like  you,  and  tramps  aren't 
allowed  in  the  neighborhood.'  " 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Norma  had  seen  David  flinch,  and 
she'd  scarcely  tasted  the  pancakes. 

"What  are  we  going  to  do,  David?" 
she'd  asked  when  they  were  alone  in 
their  room. 

"Do?  Why,  Gramps  can  use  the 
guest  room  and — " 

"What  will  the  neighbors  think 
when  they  see  him?" 

"I  don't  give  a  hang — " 

"This  is  a  critical  time  in  your 
career,  David.  The  impression  we 
make  now  is  terribly  important." 

David  had  run  his  fingers  worriedly 
through  his  dark  curly  hair.  "I'm 
not  going  to  hurt  his  feelings  no  mat- 
ter what  it  does  to  my  practice!" 

Norma  thought,  Tomorrow  I  can 
drive  Gramps  to  Crystal  Lake  and 
keep  him  there  for  the  rest  of  his 
stay.  But  today?  What  to  do  with 
him  today! 

All  of  a  sudden  the  early  morning 
quiet  was  broken  by  a  shrieking,  grat- 
ing sound,  and  David  sat  up  in  bed 
with  a  jerk.  "Shades  of  my  boy- 
hood!" He  was  across  the  room  to  the 
window  with  Norma  at  his  side,  and 
the  sound  came  closer  like  a  dozen 
cats  on  a  torture  rack. 

"What  is  it,  David?" 

David's  chuckle  was  slivered  with 
exasperation.  "Gramps  has  found  a 
wheelbarrow,  my  pet.  An  evil  twin 
to  the  diabolical  vehicle  that  used  to 
shatter  my  boyish  slumber.  Just  look 
at  him!" 

She  watched  Gramps  push  the  pro- 
testing wheelbarrow  to  the  back  of  the 
lot  and  dump  bricks  into  a  pile  un- 
der the  maple  tree.  Then  with  a  look 
of  determination,  he  grasped  the 
handles  of  the  wheelbarrow,  wheeled 
it  around,  and  at  the  same  moment 
Norma  heard  windows  go  up,  and 
faces,  wearing  indignant  expressions, 
thrust  out  all  along  the  horseshoe 
bend  of  the  street. 

Norma  quickly  opened  the  window. 
"Gramps,  wait!" 

Gramps  looked  up,  his  face  wreathed 
in  smiles.  "Mornin',  Normer.  Got 
you  some  bricks.  Goin'  to  build  you 
an  outdoor  fireplace." 

"I'll  be  right  down,  Gramps.  Don't 
go  away." 

David  caught  her  in  his  arms  as 
she  opened  the  door.  "Go  easy, 
honey.  Remember,  I  wouldn't  be  Dr. 
David  Sawyer  if  it  weren't  for 
Gramps." 

She  knew  what  David  meant.  When 
Gramps  knew  David  wanted  to  be  a 
doctor  he'd  worked  all  one  blistering 
summer  and  sent  his  wages  to  David. 
OCTOBER  1955 


"Don't  worry,  David,"  she  told  him. 
"I'll   be   tactful." 

Gramps  was  standing  in  the  back- 
yard under  the  maple  tree,  wiping 
his  forehead  with  a  blue  bandana 
handkerchief.  He  looked  up  as  she 
came  over.  "Ain't  them  nice  brick, 
Normer?  Know  that  old  building 
down  the  road  a  piece?  One  they're 
tearing  down?  They  was  glad  to  sell 
me  all  the  bricks  I  need.  Bought 
cement  and  sand,  too,  and  borrowed 
a  trowel."  He  grasped  the  handles 
of  the  wheelbarrow.  "I'd  best  get 
back  for  another  load.  Three  barrows 
ought  to  do  'er." 

"No,  Gramps!"  she  said  harshly, 
and  then  at  the  hurt  look  on  his 
face.  "Start  it  now.  Let  me  see  how 
it's  going  to  look." 

He  winked  at  her.  "You'll  have 
the  purtiest  fireplace  in  this  neighbor- 
hood." 

Norma  thought  hopefully,  "Maybe 
he'll  stay  in  the  backyard  laying  brick 
all  day."  When  she  went  back  in 
the  house,   David   was  just  leaving. 


"Is  everything  all  right  with  Gramps, 
honey?"  he  asked  anxiously. 

"Sure,  darling.    Don't  you  worry." 

If  only  the  party  went  as  she 
planned  it!  In  the  first  place  know- 
ing a  famous  authoress  well  enough 
to  give  a  party  for  her  had  been  a 
feather  in  Norma's  hat.  Last  Wed- 
nesday Mrs.  Schuyler  Payne  had 
given  her  a  lift  to  town,  and  Norma 
had  noticed  Malvina's  book  on  the 
seat.  She'd  picked  it  up.  "So  Mally 
finally  wrote  her  African  novel." 

"You  know  Malvina  Prescott,  Mrs. 
Sawyer?"  Norma  could  tell  Mrs. 
Payne  was  impressed. 

"We  were  roommates  at  Stanford. 
Malvina  will  be  here  next  Wednesday 
between  planes." 

"How  I'd  like  to  meet  herl" 

The  inspiration  had  come  then,  full 
blown.  "I'm  giving  a  reception  for 
Malvina,  Mrs.  Payne.  I'd  love  to 
have  you  come.  Wednesday  from 
two  to  four." 

It  was  almost  one  o'clock  before 
Norma  had  time  to  look  out  Tie  win- 
dow and  see  how  the  fireplace  was 
progressing.  She  was  startled  to  find 
that  there  were  only  a  few  bricks 
left!  Just  about  the  time  the  guests 
arrived,  Gramps  would  be  leaving  for 
another  load  of  bricks.  He  certainly 
was  fast,  she  admitted.  They  should 
have  someone  like  him  working  on 
the  medical  building. 

The  medical  building  .  .  .  Maybe 
.  .  .  she  went  quickly  downstairs  and 
out  to  the  backyard.  "Why,  that's 
going  to  be  wonderful,  Gramps,"  she 
said.  "I  think  it's  marvelous  to  be 
able  to  build  something  like  that.  You 
should  see  the  new  medical  building 
going  up.  Why,  every  time  I  go  to 
town,  I  stand  and  watch  the  workers." 

"Where's  the  building,  Normer?" 
Gramps'  face  showed  interest. 

"Over  on  Farrow  Street,  across  from 
the  library." 

"Well,  now,  I'd  like  to  take  a  look 
at  that." 

Norma  chose  her  words  carefully, 
suddenly  shocked  at  herself.  "Oh, 
no,  Gramps,  it's  too  far  for  you  to 
walk!     I  forbid  you  to  go!" 

Gramps  globbed  mortar  on  bricks 
with  an  angry  gesture.  "Soon  as  I 
lay  these  last  bricks,  I'm  goin'  to  be 
on  my  way!" 

"David  can't  take  you  and — " 

"I'll  walk,"  Gramps  said. 

"Well,  all  right,"  Norma  gave  a 
reluctant  sigh.  "I'll  lay  out  your 
good  clothes  and — " 

"Clothes  I  got  on  will  do."   Norma 
(Continued  on  following  page) 

717 


A  DISGRACE  TO  THE  FAMILY 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
saw  the  stubborn   set  of  his   mouth 
and  let  well  enough  alone. 

Later  Norma  stood  at  the  window 
and  watched  until  Gramps  was  out 
of  sight.-  It  was  a  long  walk  to  Far- 
row Street.  He  would  be  gone  until 
evening.  She  whirled  around  and 
then  walked  slowly  through  the 
house.  She  loved  this  old  home  with 
its  spacious  rooms,  its  glossy  walnut 
woodwork,  and  many  paned  windows. 

How  nice  the  table  looked  covered 
with  her  lace  tablecloth,  her  gleam- 
ing wedding  silver  and  china.  They 
had  chosen  furniture  that  would  com- 
plement the  antiques  she  had  sent 
from  home.  The  right  background 
was  so  important  to  a  young  doctor. 
It  was  the  only  kind  of  advertising 
he  could  do. 

Norma  was  placing  platters  of 
strawberry  tarts  on  the  table  when 
she  saw  a  taxi  stop  in  front,  and 
Malvina  get  out.  Norma  went  to  the 
door.  "Oh,  Mally  darling!"  She 
hugged  'her  friend.  "It's  good  to  see 
you.    You're  looking  marvelous." 

"And  so  are  you,  darling.  Mar- 
riage agrees  with  you." 

"Sit  down,  Mally,"  Norma  said 
eagerly  and  indicated  the  divan. 
"Let's  have  a  few  quiet  moments  be- 
fore the  mob  arrives." 

Malvina  sat  down  and  smiled.  She 
was  tall  and  blond  and  very  lovely 
with  her  wide  brown  eyes.  "How  is 
David  doing?  Building  up  a  good 
practice?" 

"Oh,  Mally!"  All  of  a  sudden 
Norma  was  telling  Malvina  every- 
thing, even   about  Gramps. 

Malvina  laughed.  "He  sounds  like 
a  wonderful  character  for  a  story. 
Where  is  he?" 

Norma  told  her,  conscious  that 
Malvina  was  looking  at  her  disap- 
provingly. "Don't  look  at  me  like 
that,  Mally.  Gramps  is  a  marvelous 
character  for  a  story  but  not  a  mar- 
velous grandfather  for  a  young  doctor 
just  starting  out.  Dr.  Cabot  has  been 
these  people's  doctor,  but  he's  retir- 
ing soon,  and  oh,  if  only  David  could 
be  their  doctor!" 

Malvina  smiled  understandingly, 
"Darling,  I'll  impress  the  socks  off 
them,  and  here  come  the  first  victims. 
Give  me  a  quick  sketch  of  each  one." 

Norma  looked  out  the  window  at 
the  three  women  coming  up  the  walk. 
"The  tall  thin  one  in  the  rose  print 
dress  is  Mrs.  Bruce  Cantwell.     Nina 

718 


Cantwell,"  Norma  said.  "She  has  a 
wealthy  banker  husband  and  chronic 
indigestion.  The  pretty  dark-haired 
woman  is  Mrs.  Floyd  Barrows.  Lucy 
Barrows.  Her  husband  is  something 
important  in  steel.  They  have  four 
children,  and  all  four  still  have  their 
tonsils,  adenoids,  and  appendixes, 
and—" 

"And  the  handsome  gray-haired 
woman  in  the  blue  linen?" 

Norma  let  her  breath  out  in  a  little 
gasp.  "Mrs.  Schuyler  Payne.  If  she 
gives  the  nod,  the  others  follow." 

The  doorbell  rang.  Malvina  said, 
"Relax!     They're  only  people!" 

Norma  thought  of  Malvina's  words 
as  the  afternoon  progressed.  Every- 
one she  had  invited  came,  and  they 
all  loved  Malvina,  and  Norma  knew 
that  everyone  was  having  a  good  time. 
She  moved  from  group  to  group,  re- 
laxed now. 

Only  Mrs.  Payne  remained  a  bit 
aloof.  So  Norma  was  delighted  when 
Mrs.  Payne  told  her,  "I  like  the  way 
you  have  redecorated  the  house.  I 
was  so  afraid,  when  I  knew  young 
people  were  moving  into  the  old 
Walters'  home  that  they  would  go 
modernistic.  But  you  haven't  painted 
the  woodwork  and — " 

"Paint  this  lovely  solid  walnut!" 
Norma  exclaimed.  "That  would  be 
sacrilege." 

"You  are  perfectly  right,"  Mrs. 
Payne  said  approvingly.  "I  was  sit- 
ting here  admiring  the  walnut  secre- 
tary.    It's  beautiful!" 

"Thank  you.  It  belonged  to  my 
great-grandmother  Crawford." 

"Where  are  you  from,  Mrs.  Saw- 
yer?" 

Norma  told  her  about  her  child- 
hood in  California.  Then  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  sentence  Norma  looked  out 
the  window  and  saw  Gramps  coming 
up  the  walk!  She  was  not  aware  that 
she  had  gasped  until  Mrs.  Payne  said, 
"What  is  it,  Mrs.  Sawyer?" 

And  then  Mrs.  Payne  was  looking 
out  the  window,  too,  saying,  "Who  is 
that  old  man?  I  do  believe  he's  the 
same  one  who  went  past  my  house 
very  early  this  morning  pushing  a 
disreputable  wheelbarrow.  He's  turn- 
ing in  here."  Mrs.  Payne  looked 
sharply  at  Norma.  "Does  he  live 
here?" 

Norma  thought,  I'll  tell  her  he's 
our  yard  man,  and  then  I'll  slip  out 
and  head  Gramps  off  before  he  comes 
in  here.  But  suddenly  she  loathed 
herself  for  even  thinking  of  such   a 


cruel  thing.  She  said,  "He's  Dr. 
Sawyer's  grandfather.  He's  here  from 
Pleasantville  visiting  us  for  a  week. 
You  must  meet  him." 

She  could  hear  Gramps  talking  to 
Minnie  in  the  kitchen.  She  opened 
the  swinging  door  wide.  "Gramps," 
she  called,  "come  in  here.  I  want 
you  to  meet  my  guests." 

Gramps  appeared  in  the  doorway. 
Norma  said  loudly,  "This  is  Dr.  Saw- 
yer's grandfather." 

Gramps  smiled  a  broad  smile.  "As 
I  walked  around  the  side  of  the  house, 
it  was  like  standing  outside  a  chicken 
coop  and  listening  to  a  flock  of  hens 
cackling."  He  bowed  slightly,  his 
feet  turning  out,  his  eyes  twinkling. 
"Purty,  young  hens,  you  understand." 
He  looked  down  at  his  attire.  "Ex- 
cuse me  bein'  in  my  workin'  clothes. 
Didn't  know  I  was  going  to  be  in- 
vited to  a  party.  Be  back  in  a  min- 
ute soon  as  I  change." 

There  were  a  few  well-bred  laughs 
as  Gramps  walked  across  the  room 
with  that  jaunty  walk.  Across  the 
room  Malvina's  eyes  met  hers,  and 
Malvina  began  to  talk  rapidly  about 
the  new  book  she  was  writing, 
and  then  Gramps  was  back  in  his 
"best  togs" — black  trousers  and  white 
shirt  and  fire-engine  red  tie. 

The  rest  was  nightmare,  with 
Gramps  moving  about  freely  and  per- 
fectly at  ease,  with  occasional  lulls 
in  the  conversation  and  Gramps'  voice 
rising  above  the  rest. 

It  was  when  Norma  heard  Gramps 
tell  Mrs.  Schuyler  Payne,  "Hogs  ain't 
dirty  naturally.  You  give  a  hog  half 
a  chance,  and  he'd  be  clean  as  you 
are,"  and  saw  Mrs.  Payne  looking 
down  her  long,  well-bred  nose  at 
Gramps  that  a  kind  of  numbness  stole 
over  Norma.  It  lasted  until  the  last 
guest  had  gone,  taking  Malvina  with 
them  to  the  airport  in  a  car  that  had 
room  for  Malvina  but  none — Norma 
thought  significantly — for   her. 

She  even  made  some  kind  of  reply 
when  Gramps  said  it  was  a  jim-dandy 
party,  and  if  she  could  spare  him 
now,  he'd  go  for  another  load  of 
bricks. 

It  was  when  she  heard  the  squeal- 
ing of  the  wheelbarrow  that  the 
numbness  left,  and  she  burst  into 
tears.  Let  Gramps  go  after  a  dozen 
loads  of  brick.  It  didn't  matter  now. 
Everything  was  ruined. 

She  heard  the  dining  room  door 
swing  open  and  Minnie's  step.  Norma 

(Continued  on  page  744) 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


"Come,  follow  me  .  .  . 
and  I  will  make  you  fish- 
ers of  men." 

— Photo   by   C.   C.    Pierce 


Dear  Tom: 
I  almost  feel  as  though  I  know 
you.  The  things  Brother  Palmer 
said  about  you1  make  you  seem 
very  real  to  me.  Even  if  you  don't 
have  a  surname,  Tom,  you  are  still 
a  real  person,  and  you  do  have  an 
inheritance  awaiting  you. 

Did  you  say,  "I  would  give  every- 
thing I  own  to  know  who  I  am"?  So 
would  we  all,  Tom.  It's  the  very 
greatest  need  we  have — to  know  who 
we  are,  why  we  are  here,  and  where 
we  belong  in  the  scheme  of  things. 
And  this  is  something  that  we  can 
know. 

German  E.  Ellsworth,  former  presi- 
dent of  the  Northern  California  Mis- 
sion, has  said  repeatedly,  "Remem- 
ber who  you  are!"  What  does  he 
mean  by  that?  You,  Tom,  don't 
know  who  your  parents  were;  you 
were  given  no  last  name;  and  yet  you, 
too,  should  be  remembering  who 
you  are. 

Our  Savior  said,  ".  .  .  call  no  man 
your  father  upon  the  earth:  for  one 
is  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven." 
(Matt.  23 : 9. )  Maybe  you  can't  know 
your  earthly  parents,  Tom,  but  you 
can  know  your  Heavenly  Father. 
".  .  .  all  ye  are  brethren,"  said  the 
Lord.  (Idem  8.)     He  was  talking  to 


•William    R.    Palmer,    "A    Father's    Blessing,"    The 
Improvement    Era,    March    1955,    p.  150. 

OCTOBER  1955 


DEAR  TOM 


by  Margaret  T.  Goff 


you,  Tom.  You  have  a  whole  family 
of  brothers  and  sisters  here  on  this 
earth  with  you. 

Why  should  you  drift  over  the 
earth?  Why  should  you  be  without 
a  home,  without  friends,  without 
loved  ones?  You  can  find  a  brother 
wherever  you  look,  if  you  seek  with 
love  in  your  heart  to  find  kinship  with 
the  rest  of  God's  children.  So  many 
of  them  are  worse  off  than  you  are. 
Haven't  you  something  to  give  to 
them,  Tom — a  smile — a  kind  heart? 
Haven't  you  some  encouraging  words 
to  give?  Don't  you  know  some  young 
boy  who  needs  befriending?  Haven't 
you  seen  any  need  among  men  that 
you  know  how  to  meet?  If  you  are 
loving  and  kind,  Tom,  you  will  also 
be  greatly  loved.  The  closest  family 
ties  develop  from  love  and  service  to 
others. 

Tom,  you  have  a  wonderful  fam- 
ily— the  human  family.    Your  family 


has  produced  prophets  and  apostles, 
scientists,  doctors,  artists,  musicians, 
authors,  teachers,  statesmen,  in- 
ventors. Have  you  ever  taken  the 
time  to  learn  about  them?  Think 
about  these  noteworthy  men  and 
women.  Isn't  it  an  honor  to  have 
such  brothers  and  sisters? 

There  are  millions  of  others — men 
and  women  whose  names  are  not 
known  to  the  world,  who  know  what 
integrity  is,  what  honor  and  kindness 
and  uprightness  mean;  who  cherish 
these  principles  and  teach  them  to 
their  children.  These  also  are  your 
brothers  and  sisters.  You  belong  to 
the  same  great  family.  It's  up  to  you 
to  make  yourself  a  worthy  member 
of  that  family. 

I  agree  that  you  need  a  name,  Tom. 
Why  not  take  upon  yourself  the  name 
of  Christ  as  he  would  like  you  to  do? 
There  have  been  others  before  you 
who  have  adopted  the  surname  Chris- 
tian. Why  not  become  Tom  Christian 
or  Thomas  Christian?  Accept  the 
name  legally,  and  bear  it  proudly. 
Then  you  would  really  have  some- 
thing to  live  up  to! 

If  you  should  seek  to  know  our 
Savior,  to  follow  in  his  footsteps,  to 
bear  his  name  honorably,  he  would 
welcome  you  with  open  arms.  Can't 
you   hear  him   saying,   "Come   unto 

(Continued  on  page  763) 
719 


p.****  *,    r  >  v  ,  ^  ^  v  j  s  g  vv^^^*^^^*^^^^ 


COURAGE 
INACTION 


by  Jim  McFarland 


has  been  said  that  we  are  a  peculiar 
people.  As  members  of  the  Church  we  are 
different  because  of  our  beliefs,  for  we 
are  a  chosen  people,  called  out  of  the  dark- 
ness and  into  the  marvelous  light  of  the 
restored  gospel.  It  is  our  calling  to  live  faithfully  to 
the  truth  that  will  make  this  light  shine  bright  and 
guide  us  away  from  the  obstacles  and  rocks  of  tempta- 
tion and  into  the  harbor  of  a  faith  courageous. 

Throughout  the  ages,  this  truth  which  we  are  proud 
to  defend  has  never  been  changed.  In  olden  times 
young  people  met  with  basically  the  same  temptations 
as  the  young  people  of  today,  for  in  all  ages  there  have 
been  peculiar  people;  for  example,  Daniel,  when  still 
a  young  man  in  his  teens,  met  with  a  situation  which, 
if  he  had  let  it,  would  have  dimmed  the  light  of  his 
faith.  He  along  with  three  other  captives  of  Israel 
was  chosen  to  be  trained  for  three  years  as  personal 
attendants  to  the  king  of  Babylon.  However,  the 
food  and  drink  of  which  Daniel  was  expected  to  par- 
take was  unhealthful  according  to  his  beliefs,  as 
were  the  moral  and  spiritual  standards  prevalent  in 
the  kingdom.  So  Daniel  requested  of  the  king  that 
he  and  his  friends  be  permitted  to  eat  of  vegetables 
and  water  for  ten  days  rather  than  partaking  of  the 
king's  food.  The  results  of  the  experiment  were 
favorable,  and  the  four  Jewish  youths  were  permitted 
to  live  in  this  way  during  the  remaining  three  years 
of  their  training. 

At  the  end  of  this  time,  they  were  found  to  be  far 
superior  to  their  fellow  students  both  physically  and 
intellectually,  and  indeed  wiser  than  all  the  learned 
men  of  Babylon.  Their  superiority  was  traced  to  the 
God  they  were  not  ashamed  to  worship.  Daniel  not 
only  had  the  courage  to  refuse  to  partake  of  the  king's 
food,  but  also  the  courage  to  stand  up  before  the  king 
and  explain  his  beliefs  to  him.  Because  of  Daniel's 
firm  conviction  of  faith  and  courage  to  secure  the 
food  and  drink  which  met  the  standards  of  his  belief, 
he  was  rewarded  with  much  power  in  the  kingdom. 

This  firm  conviction  of  Daniel's  did  not  develop 
overnight  but  was  nurtured  throughout  a  clean  life 
from  a  spark  of  truth  to  a  brilliant,  courageous  faith. 
We  are  a  peculiar  people  because  of  the  principles 
and  standards  we  follow.  Young  people  of  the  Church 
are  taught  to  live  by  a  very  strict  code  of  moral  ethics. 
We  believe  in  keeping  our  bodies  physically  strong, 
mentally  awake,  and  morally  straight,  by  not  taking 
into  them  unclean  things  or  thoughts. 

We  are  taught  that  the  kind  of  stories  and  jokes  we 

*Adapted    from   a   talk    given   at   the   speech   session   of   the   MIA   June   con- 
ference held   in  the   Tabernacle. 

720 


hear  or  tell,  the  type  of  books  and  magazines  we  read, 
and  the  words  we  use  should  be  of  such  high  standard 
that  they  would  be  acceptable  in  the  presence  of  God, 
for  truly,  "the  glory  of  God  is  intelligence." 

It  is  the  mission  of  those  of  us  who  have  this  light 
of  truth  to  spread  it  throughout  the  rest  of  the  world, 
to  demonstrate  to  people,  as  Daniel  showed  the  king 
of  Babylon,  that  to  live  by  these  strict  codes  will  bring 
them  happiness  and  power  to  resist  temptation.  To 
do  this  we  must  have  courage  and  be  able  to  stand 
unashamed  before  any  opposition  and  hold  true  to  our 
beliefs. 

Courage  in  action  was  well  demonstrated  by  one  of 
our  early  missionaries.  When  spreading  the  light  of 
truth  in  the  Southern  States,  the  leader  of  the  angry 
mob  shouted,  "Shoot  that  man,"  and  pointed  to  Rud- 
ger  Clawson.  Twelve  men  raised  their  guns  and  cov- 
ered him.  He  looked  into  the  blank,  death-dealing 
muzzles  and  folded  his  arms.  "Shoot,"  he  calmly 
said.  A  blackness  came  over  him;  he  could  not  see. 
He  felt  the  presence  of  the  angel  of  death.  Finally, 
after  an  eternity,  dimly  out  of  the  distance,  he  heard 
another  command,  "Don't  shoot."  His  calm  faith  in 
God  and  his  cool  bravery  had  saved  him. 

Would  you  believe  for  a  minute  that  this  stirring 
demonstration  of  faith  courageous  was  an  instantane- 
ous impulse?  No.  It  was,  rather,  a  solid  wall  of  faith 
and  courage,  built  on  a  firm  conviction  of  the  gospel. 
He  had  read  and  believed  the  gospel  of  John,  wherein 
it  says: 

These  things  I  have  spoken  unto  you,  that  in  me  ye  might 
have  peace.  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation:  but  be 
of  good  cheer;  I  have  overcome  the  world.  (John  16:33.) 

What  a  great  promise  to  be  given  to  us!  No  mat- 
ter where  we  go  in  the  world,  when  we  meet  with 
temptation  or  tribulation,  the  Spirit  of  God  will  be 
there  to  guide  us.  The  only  thing  our  Heavenly 
Father  asks  is  for  us  to  have  the  faith  and  the  cour- 
age to  say  that  we  are  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  that  we  will  live  by  it  until  the  end,  for 
truly  in  the  end  the  just  shall  live  by  faith. 

(Concluded  on  page  722) 


m 


— Plioto  by  Camera  Clix 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


It's  our  way  of  introducing 
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If  you  are  between  the  ages  of  18  and 
59,  in  good  health  now,  and  can  qualify 
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This  low-cost,  non-cancellable  plan  is 
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about  your  new,  non-cancellable  Hospital,  Surgical  and  Life 
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gate me. 

NAME 

STREET  ADDRESS 


CITY. 


STATE. 


OCTOBER  1955 


721 


COURAGE  IN  ACTION 


(Concluded  from  page  720) 
Each  day  the  test  seems  to  come. 
Last  spring  I  was  associated  with 
ninety-four  other  young  men  from 
every  state  in  the  Union,  but  some- 
how I  was  singled  out  among  them 
because  some  of  my  beliefs  differed 
from  some  of  their  own.  The  con- 
vention was  held  in  the  center  of  the 
city  of  Chicago.  I  was  repeatedly  in- 
vited to  enter  burlesque  shows,  to 
have  cocktails,  cigarets,  and  other 
things  which  did  not  conform  with 
my  teachings  and  beliefs.  Had  I  not 
the  necessary  courage  to  say  no  to 
such  temptations,  no  doubt  today  I 
would  be  wondering  why  that  beacon 
which  guides  me  had  become  so  dim. 
I  am  thankful  for  that  God-given 
faith. 

This  truth  which  we  believe  in  was 


well-expressed  by  Richard  L.  Evans 
when  speaking  of  people  who  by 
necessity  had  to  leave  their  homes. 
"Fundamentally  there  is  only  one  set 
of  rules.  If  a  thing  wasn't  right  or 
ethical  at  home,  it  isn't  right  or  ethical 
away  from  home.  If  a  thing  wasn't 
sound  morally  or  spiritually  where 
we  came  from,  it  isn't  sound  morally 
or  spiritually  where  we're  going.  Some 
day  when  all  this  has  passed,  most  of 
us  are  going  to  want  to  go  back  to 
those  places  from  which  we  have 
come,  and  take  up  life  where  we  left 
it.  .  .  .  it  is  well  to  keep  in  mind 
that  we  do  not  change  our  identity 
when  we  change  our  environment. 
We  cannot  change  color,  like  the 
chameleon,  and  expect  to  change 
quickly  back  again.  The  colors  of 
character  tend  to  resist  ready  change 


— especially  changes  from  the  darker 
to  the  lighter  hues."* 

Daniel  did  not  see  fit  to  change  the 
rules  he  lived  by  when  he  was  away 
from  home,  nor  did  Elder  Clawson. 
But  we  do  not  need  to  be  confronted 
by  assassins  or  be  tempted  with  evil 
in  far-off  places  to  demonstrate  our 
faith  courageous.  Each  day  of  our 
lives  each  of  us  has  the  opportunity 
to  brighten  that  light  of  truth  within 
us  by  having  the  faith  and  the  cour- 
age to  resist  the  very  smallest  tempta- 
tion. 

If  we,  living  by  our  daily  acts,  de- 
velop a  faith  that  is  courageous,  we 
will  be  able  to  exclaim  with  power 
and  elation,  as  did  Paul,  "For  I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ: 
for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion to  every  one  that  believeth,  .  .  ." 
(Romans   1;16.) 


*Evans,    Richard    L.,    This    Day 
(New   York:    1942),   p.    7. 


and    Always 





Pisgah 


Mormon  Landmark 


by  Lorraine  V.  Buckman 


A  little-known  cemetery  in  Iowa 
is  all  that  remains  of  the  thriving 
community  of  3,000  Latter-day 
Saints  who  lived  there  from  1846  until 
1852. 

Travelers  on  Highway  34,  across 
the  midwest,  would  be  inspired  by 
a  visit  to  this  hallowed  spot.  It  is 
northwest  of  the  Talmage  viaduct, 
along  a  winding  country  road  and 
up  the  hill  after  a  right  turn  at  the 
"T"  in  the  road. 

From  the  cemetery  slopes  visitors 
see  the  fertile,  peaceful  valley  which 
Mormon  scouts  found  in  the  spring 
of  1846;  and  they  were  so  impressed 
with  the  spot,  which  they  named  Mt. 
Pisgah,  others  in  the  party  were 
brought  on  to  settle  on  these  slopes. 

Homes  were  open  to  weary  groups 
of  Saints  making  the  trek  west,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  over  15,000  made 
Pisgah  an  important  way  station.  It 
was  just  about  halfway  across  Iowa, 
and  the  fertile  fields  and  the  large 
natural  spring  provided  food  and 
water  for  man  and  beast. 

722 


— Photo   courtesy  Iowa  Development  Co 

Monument  to  the  Pioneers  at  Mount 
Pisgah,  Iowa,  one  of  the  last  traces  o£  the 
historic  Mormon  Trail. 


But  when  the  Latter-day  Saints 
were  called  to  Utah,  the  town  began 
to  empty,  and  Pisgah  gradually  faded 
entirely  away. 

In  1866  the  Church  purchased  the 
two-acre  plot  where  the  cemetery  lay, 
and  in  1888  a  tall  stone  monument 
was  erected  to  mark  the  important 
site. 

Historians  explain  the  absence  of 
individual  grave  markers  because  such 
a  practice  would  give  the  Indians  no 
clues   to  the  community   burial  plot. 

In  any  case,  because  the  courageous 
Mormons  were  some  of  the  first  pio- 
neers to  take  their  companies  across 
these  particular  sections  of  Iowa,  gov- 
ernment surveyors  officially  labeled 
the  route  from  Keokuk  to  Council 
Bluffs  "The  Mormon  Trail." 

There  are  some  other  important 
Mormon  landmarks  in  the  state:  a 
bronze  tablet  on  Chief  Keokuk's 
monument  at  Rand  Park,  Keokuk, 
marks  the  origin  of  the  trail;  and 
other  historic  points  are  at  Chariton, 
Lewis,  and  Council  Bluffs. 

Yet  the  old  Mount  Pisgah  cemetery 
represents  the  courage  and  faith  of 
the  Latter-day  Saints  who  for  six  years 
made  a  comfortable  resting  place  for 
those  who  must  push  westward.  Per- 
haps this  spot  was  the  very  most  vital 
way  station  between  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  rivers.  Today  the  peace- 
ful setting  envelops  the  visitor  in  a 
serene  sense  of  history  made  and  faith 
proved. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Why  CHASE  copper  drainage 
systems  are  6dS/6t  to 


20 -foot  lengths  mean  that  fewer  joints  are 
needed. 


Entire  system  lightweight,  easier  to  handle 
and  to  assemble. 


Chase  Solder-Joint  Fittings  are  easily, 
rapidly  made. 


Chase  Copper  Water  Tube— with  Chase 
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ly installed,  more  economical  system 
that  does  a  better  job,  lasts  longer. 

A  Chase  drainage  system  is  a  light- 
When  you  buy  products 
Copper    Company,    you 


weight  system  — so  easy  to  install,  yet 
rugged  enough  throughout  to  take  plenty 
of  hard  knocks. 

Your  Chase  wholesaler  will  be  glad 
to  give  you  full  information  on  this  more 
efficient  type  of  drainage  system. 

made  by  Chase  Brass  and 
buy    Utah    mined    copper. 


Xftah  Copix* 
Division 


m 


Kennecott  Copper  Corporation 


Good    Neighbor    Helping    to    Build    a    Better    Utah 


OCTOBER  1955 


723 


ARCHAEOLOG 

and  the 
BOOK  OF  MORMON 


by  President  Milton  R.  Hunter 

OF  THE  FIRST  COUNCIL  OF  THE  SEVENTY 


It  is  a  fact  of  interest  and  much 
significance  that  prior  to  and  at 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  ".  .  .  the  profane 
histories  .  .  .  were  a  unit  in  the 
thought  that  no  horses  existed  here 
previous  to  their  introduction  by  the 
Spanish."1  Dr.  Frederick  J.  Pack  em- 
phasized the  fact  that  when  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  aided  by 
the  power  of  the  Lord,  translated  the 
history  and  religious  teachings  of 
the  ancient  Americans  and  pub- 
lished the  account  under  the  title  of 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  he  published 
statements  regarding  horses  which 
were  completely  contrary  to  the  uni- 
versally accepted  belief  that  horses 
had  not  existed  on  either  of  the 
American  continents  prior  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  New  World  and  the 
Spanish  conquest.     To  quote: 

...  It  should  be  remembered  that  this 
book  was  published  at  a  time  when  even 
the  most  profound  thinkers  were  positive 
that  no  horses  had  existed  previous  to  the 
Spanish  conquest.  The  statements  in  the 
Book  of  Mormon  relating  to  the  horse  were 
at  that  time  used  by  its  opponents  as  proof 
that  the  book  was  untrue,  and  written  by 
someone  who  was  not  acquainted  with  even 
the  crudest  facts  of  history.2 

Possibly  historians  had  come  to  the 
foregoing  conclusion  because  the 
Spanish  conquistador es  of  Guatemala, 
Yucatan,  and  the  valley  of  Mexico 
were  mounted  on  horses  while  their 
opponents,  the  Indians,  possessed  no 
such  animals  and  were  completely  un- 
familiar with  them.  Father  Diego  dc 
Landa,  in  reporting  on  conditions  in 
Yucatan  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
conquest,  mentioned  the  dog  as  being 
the    only    domesticated    animal    pos- 

iFrederick  J.  Pack,  "Revelation  Ante-dating  Scien- 
tific Discovery — An  Instance,"  The  Improvement  Era 
(Salt  Lake  City,  February,  1907),  vol.  10,  pp.  242- 
243 

-Ibid.,   p.  244. 

724 


sessed  by  the  Maya  Indians  of  that 
land.H  Furthermore,  as  far  as  the  au- 
thor knows,  none  of  the  early  explor- 
ers or  missionaries  to  the  Indians  in 
either  North  or  South  America  re- 
corded in  their  journals  the  fact  that 
they  had  observed  horses  among  the 
Indians  during  the  earlier  part  of  the 
colonial  period.  Perhaps  these  facts 
were  the  basic  ones  in  causing  histori- 
ans to  be  united  in  their  declarations 
that  there  had  never  been  horses  on 
the  Western  Hemsphere  prior  to  the 
coming  of  the  Spaniards,  and  so  a 
little  over  one  hundred  years  ago  it 
was  a  universally  accepted  belief  that 
the  Spaniards  brought  the  first  horses 
to  America. 

In  direct  opposition  to  that  belief, 
the  Book  of  Mormon,   published  on 

3Diego  de  Landa,  (cir.  1556),  Relation  de  las  Cosas 
de  Yucatan  (1941  ed.),  p.  203,  cited  in  Milton  R. 
Hunter  and  Thomas  Stuart  Ferguson,  Ancient  America 
and  the  Book  of  Mormon  (Oakland,  1950),  p.  310. 


Part  VI 
Horses  in  Ancient  America 

March  26,  1830,  makes  the  claim  that 
horses  lived  upon  the  American  conti- 
nent throughout  Jaredite  and  Nephite 
times.  There  are  eleven  statements 
scattered  throughout  this  ancient  rec- 
ord regarding  horses,  all  of  which  in- 
dicate that  horses  were  among  the 
animals  in  ancient  America.  Some  of 
the  statements  definitely  maintain  that 
horses  were  domesticated  and  used  by 
the  inhabitants  of  this  continent  in 
ancient  times  for  purposes  similar  to 
those  for  which  other  peoples  have 
used  them.  Also,  the  writer  finds  no 
evidence  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  to 
the  effect  that  the  horse  became  ex- 
tinct before  the  close  of  Nephite  his- 
tory. The  latter  few  references  to 
them  seem  to  indicate  that  they  were 
abundant  during  that  period. 

The  Jaredites,  who  migrated  to 
America  from  the  Tower  of  Babel 
and  flourished  as  a  great  nation  for 


SKELETON  OF  WESTERN  HORSE  (Equus  occidentalis  Leidy).  Horse  bones  taken 
from  the  asphalt  deposits  of  Rancho  La  Brea  and  now  displayed  in  the  Los  Angeies  County 
Museum  collection.    Courtesy  of  Chester  Stock.    Note  scale  at  right  for  size  of  herse. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


hundreds  of  years,  possessed  numer- 
ous horses.  Ether,  the  last  of  the 
Jaredite  prophets,  mentioned  some  of 
the  animals  that  his  people  had  used 
in  ancient  America  for  many  centuries 
before  the  time  of  Christ.    He  wrote: 

And  they  also  had  horses,  and  asses,  and 
there  were  elephants  and  cureloms  and 
cumoms;  all  of  which  were  useful  unto  man, 
and  more  especially  the  elephants  and 
cureloms   and   cumoms.* 

The  Jaredite  historian  pointed  out 
the  fact  that  his  people  domesticated 
some  of  the  animals  and  used  them 
in  doing  farm  work.  The  following 
is  quoted  from  the  ancient  records: 

And  they  did  make  all  manner  of 
tools  with  which  they  did  work  their 
beasts/' 

A  large  variety  of  animals  survived 
on  the  American  continent  after  the 
close  of  Jaredite  history,  supplying  the 
needs  of  the  next  group  of  colonists 
who  inhabited  the  land.  These  peo- 
ple were  called  Nephites,  and  their 
brethren  were  designated  as  Laman- 
ites.  The  progenitors  of  the  Nephites 
and  Lamanites  migrated  to  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere  under  the  leadership 
of  Father  Lehi  and  his  son  Nephi. 
They  came  to  America  from  Jeru- 
salem, leaving  the  holy  city  in  the 
year  600  B.C.  Upon  their  arrival, 
Nephi,  the  historian  of  the  group, 
mentioned  the  fact  that  they  found 
a  variety  of  animals  here.  He  named 
some  of  the  more  common  species 
which  are  usually  domesticated  for 
the  use  of  man.  Following  is  his 
statement: 

And  it  came  to  pass  that  we  did  find 
upon  the  land  of  promise,  as  we  journeyed 
in  the  wilderness,  that  there  were  beasts 
in  the  forest  of  every  kind,  both  the  cow 
and  the  ox,  and  the  ass  and  the  horse,  and 


4Ether   9:19    (Italics   author's    throughout.) 
*Ibid.,    10:26. 


^^^PiSSJ! 


An  Indian  pictograph  of  the  likeness  of  an  unbridled  horse  in  Picture  Canyon,  Cimar- 
ron County,  Oklahoma,  which  shows  that  Indians  in  early  times  were  acquainted  with 
horses. 


the  goat  and  the  wild  goat,  and  all  manner 
of  wild  animals,  which  were  for  the  use 
of  men.   .   .   .e 


«1    Nephi    18:25. 


A  section  of  an  Indian  pictograph  from 
the  southwestern  section  of  US,  showing  a 
man  on  a  horse  probably  driving  some  goats. 
This  is  an  example  of  early  Pueblo  Indian 
writing  and  it  gives  evidence  that  the  In- 
dians of  pre-Columbian  days  rode  horses. 


A  section  of  the  same  Indian  pictograph  shown   above  which  depicts   a  horse  with 
its  rider  shooting  a  deer  with  an  arrow.     One  of  the  illustrations  on  the  pictograph  ap- 
pears to  be  a  wheel. 
OCTOBER  1955 


Perhaps  the  Nephites  lost  very  lit- 
tle time  in  capturing  various  kinds  of 
the  useful  animals  listed  by  Nephi 
and  domesticating  them,  since  they 
were  familiar  with  such  animals  and 
their  usefulness,  having  just  arrived 
from  Jerusalem  where  such  animals 
were  known.  At  least  it  is  definite 
from  a  statement  made  by  Enos,  the 
son  of  Jacob,  Nephi's  brother,  that  by 
421  B.C.  the  Nephites  had  domesti- 
cated the  horse  and  other  animals. 
In  the  words  of  Enos: 

And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  people  of 
Nephi  did  till  the  land,  and  raise  all  man- 
ner of  grain,  and  of  fruit,  and  .  .  .  herds 
...  of  cattle  of  every  kind,  and  goats,  and 
wild  goats,  and  also  many  horses.7 

Approximately  ninety  years  before 
the  opening  of  the  Christian  era,  four 
of  King  Mosiah  II's  sons  refused  the 
crown  in  order  to  devote  their  lives 
to  missionary  work  among  the 
Lamanites.  Ammon,  the  oldest  of 
these  sons  and  the  chief  one  among 
them,  became  the  servant  of  one  of 
the  Lamanite  kings  named  Lamoni, 
who  resided  in  the  city  of  Ishmael.8 
On  a  certain  occasion  King  Lamoni 
inquired  of  his  servants  regarding  the 
whereabouts  of  Ammon.  Following  is 
the  reply: 

And  they  said  unto  him:  Behold,  he  is 
feeding  thy  horses.  Now  the  king  had  com- 
manded his  servants,  previous  to  the  time 
of  the  watering  of  their  flocks,  that  they 
should  prepare  his  horses  and  chariots,  and 
conduct  him  forth  to  the  land  of  Nephi, 
by  the  father  of  Lamoni,  who  was  the  king 
over  all  the  land. 

(Continued  on  following  page) 

725 


7Enos    1:21. 

8Mosiah   27:34;    Alma    17:18-27. 


ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

Now  when  king  Lamoni  heard  that  Am- 
nion was  preparing  his  horses  and  his 
chariots  he  was  more  astonished,  because 
of  the  faithfulness  of  Ammon,  saying: 
Surely  there  has  not  been  any  servant 
among  all  my  servants  that  has  been  so 
faithful  as  this  man;  for  even  he  doth 
remember  all  my  commandments  to  execute 
them.9 

The  Book  of  Mormon  reports  that 
shortly  thereafter  the  following  event 
occurred: 

Now  when  Lamoni  had  heard  this  he 
caused  that  his  servants  should  make  ready 
his   horses   and   his   chariots.10 

The  most  interesting  item  in  the 
foregoing  quotations  is  the  fact  that 
during  that  period  of  Book  of  Mor- 
mon history  even  the  Lamanites — the 
people  with  an  inferior  culture  to  the 
Nephites — were  driving  horses  hitched 
to  chariots.  This  fact  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  horses  were  used  rather  ex- 
tensively at  that  time  as  an  aid  in 
transportation  and,  according  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  these  ancient  Amer- 
icans had  constructed  a  network  of 
roads  connecting  the  principal  towns: 
To  quote: 

And  there  were  many  highways  cast  up, 
and  many  roads  made,  which  led  from  city 
to  city,  and  from  land  to  land,  and  from 
place  to  place.11 

It  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  the 
chariots  of  the  Nephites  and  Laman- 
ites were  wheeled  vehicles,  since  be- 
fore migrating  from  Jerusalem  the 
progenitors  of  these  people  lived  in  the 


"Alma    18:9-10. 
mbid.,   20:6. 
"3  Ncphi   6:8. 


Mediterranean  world  where  horses 
and  chariots  were  used  extensively.  It 
would  have  been  the  natural  thing  for 
Nephi  and  his  associates  to  have 
brought  that  knowledge  to  their  new 
home  and  put  it  in  use  when  they 
found  horses  here  in  America. 

Since  the  principal  purpose  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  was  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  religious  history  of  the 
inhabitants  of  ancient  America,  it 
would  have  been  more  or  less  by  ac- 
cident that  horses  were  mentioned  at 
all  in  that  record.  In  perusing  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  the  writer  was 
surprised  to  find  horses  mentioned  as 
often  as  they  are;  and  certainly  they 
are  referred  to  enough  times  to  supply 
convincing  evidence  of  their  existence 
and  usefulness  in  ancient  America 
during  both  Jaredite  and  Nephite 
times. 

In  the  year  17  A.D.,  approximately 
one  hundred  seven  years  after  the  in- 
cident of  King  Lamoni's  horses  and 
chariots,  the  record-keeper  once  again 
casually  mentioned  horses,  indicating 
that  they  were  considered  among  the 
valuable  possessions  of  the  Nephites 
at  that  time.  He  stated  that  the 
Gadianton  robbers  had  become  so 
numerous  that  the  more  righteous 
portion  of  the  Nephites  collected  in 
one  place  all  their  possessions  for  the 
purpose  of  making  it  easier  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  robbers.  To 
quote  directly  from  the  Nephite  rec- 
ords: 

.  .  .  the  proclamation  of  Lachoneus  had 
gone  forth  throughout  all  the  face  of  the 
land,  and  they  had  taken  their  horses,  and 
their  chariots,  and  their  cattle,  and  all  their 
flocks  and  their  herds,  and  their  grain,  and 


jMrlifl 


A  section  of  an  Indian  pictograph  of  the  Southwestern  Pueblo 
Indians,  showing  three  men  riding  horses,  and  also  one  colt.  This 
illustrates  the  fact  that  the  Indians  in  early  times  made  extensive 
use  of  horses. 


726 


all  their  substance,  and  did  march  forth 
by  thousands  and  by  tens  of  thousands, 
until  they  had  all  gone  forth  to  the  place 
which  had  been  appointed  that  they  should 
gather  themselves  together,  to  defend  them- 
selves   against    their    enemies.12 

In  reporting  conditions  the  follow- 
ing year,  the  Nephites  having  had 
time  to  gather  all  their  possessions, 
the  historian  once  again  mentioned 
horses  as  being  numbered  among  that 
which  they  had  collected.    To  quote: 

Therefore,  there  was  no  chance  for  the 
robbers  to  plunder  and  to  obtain  food,  save 
it  were  to  come  up  in  open  battle  against 
the  Nephites;  and  the  Nephites  being  in  one 
body,  and  having  so  great  a  number,  and 
having  reserved  for  themselves  provisions, 
and  horses  and  cattle,  and  flocks  of  every 
kind,  that  they  might  subsist  for  the  space 
of  seven  years,  in  which  time  they  did  hope 
to  destroy  the  robbers  from  off  the  face  of 
the  land;  and  thus  the  eighteenth  year  did 
pass  away.13  , 

Eight  years  later  (26  A.D. )  the  war 
was  over,  the  more  righteous  part  of 
the  Nephites  having  been  victorious. 
As  part  of  his  report  of  this  event,  the 
record-keeper  wrote: 

And  now  it  came  to  pass  that  the  people 
of  the  Nephites  did  all  return  to  their  own 
land  in  the  twenty  and  sixth  year,  every 
man,  with  his  family,  his  flocks  and  his 
herds,  his  horses  and  his  cattle,  and  all 
things    that   did    belong   unto    them.14 

When  the  resurrected  Messiah  ap- 
peared, to  the  Nephites  and  taught 
them  the  same  gospel  which  he  had 
proclaimed  to  the  Jews  before  his 
crucifixion,  in  one  of  his  discourses  he 
said:  "...  I  will  cut  off  thy  horses 
out  of  the  midst  of  thee,  and  I  will 
destroy  thy  chariots"15  Jesus  would 
not  have  spoken  of  horses  and  chariots 
if  his  listeners  were  completely  un- 
familiar with  them. 

From  the  foregoing  quotations,  it 
seems  quite  conclusive  that  horses 
were  more  or  less  numerous  in  ancient 
America  and  that  they  were  exten- 
sively used  by  the  Nephite  and 
Lamanite  peoples  as  well  as  by  their 
predecessors  the  Jaredites.  Also,  the 
evidence  presented  does  not  indicate 
that  horses  became  exterminated  dur- 
ing the  period  of  Nephite  history,  nor 
is  there  evidence  found  elsewhere  in 
the  Book  of  Mormon  to  that  effect. 

Prior    to    the    publishing    of    the 

Nephite  records,  no  fossil  remains  of 

(Continued  on  page  728) 

^Ibid.,  3:22. 

13Ibid.,  4:4. 

ulhid.,  6:1. 

15Ibid.,  21:14. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


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OCTOBER  1955 


727 


CLABBER  GIRL 


Here's  a  trick  that  makes  a  treat 
.  .  .  baked  apple  doughnuts  that 
have  the  airy  lightness  of  a  puffy 
deep-fat-fried  doughnut  yet  are 
baked  in  muffin  pans.  The  fla- 
vored freshness  of  new  fall  ap- 
ples plus  flavor-fresh  Clabber 
Girl  make  for  a  fine  example  of 
fresh  ingredient  baking. 

BAKED  APPLE  DOUGHNUTS 

Yield:  12  doughnuts 


1 14  cups  sifted 
all-purpose  flour 

1  %  teaspoons 
Clabber  Girl 
Baking  Powder 

14  teaspoon  salt 

\4  teaspoon  ground 
nutmeg 

\4  cup  sugar 

H  cup  shortening 


1  egg,  beaten 
H  cup  milk 
XA  cup  grated  raw 

apple 
}4  cup  melted 

butter  or 

margarine 
14  cup  sugar 
1  teaspoon  ground 

cinnamon 


Sift  together  flour,  Baking  Powder,  salt, 
nutmeg,  and  \4  cup  sugar.  Cut  in  short- 
ening until  mixture  is  fine.  Mix  together 
egg,  milk,  and  apple;  add  all  at  once  to 
dry  ingredients  and  mix  quickly  but 
thoroughly.  Fill  greased  2)4  x  lJ4-inch 
muffin  pans  %  full.  Bake  in  a  350°  F. 
(moderate)  oven  20  to  25  minutes,  or 
until  golden  brown.  Remove  from  pans. 
Immediately  roll  doughnuts  in  melted 
butter  or  margarine,  then  in  sugar  and 
cinnamon  which  have  been  mixed  to- 
gether. Serve  warm. 


Jvw&u  J~iumj 


Remember,  it's  the  fresh  ingredients 
in  your  home-baked  recipe  that 
make  things  taste  better; 
Stay  fresh  longer! 


CLABBER 

ghuY 


MOVfBTlSlOj 

is  now  Exclusively  Known 

as  the  Baking  Powder 

with  the  Balanced  Double  Action. 


ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  THE  BOOR  OF  MORMON 


(Continued  from  page  726) 
horses  had  been  found  on  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere,  and  so  science  at 
that  time  was  silent  on  the  matter. 
However,  after  the  Book  of  Mormon 
came  from  the  press,  geological  dis- 
coveries made  by  scientists  supported 
the  claims  made  by  that  book  and 
divine  revelation  by  producing  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  fully  establish  the 
fact  ' .  .  .  that  immense  herds  of 
horses  roamed  the  plains  and  forest 
of  America  centuries  before  its  dis- 
covery by  the  Europeans,  .  .  ."1(i 

On  October  5,  1833,  only  three  and 
one  half  years  after  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon came  from  the  press,  Charles 
Darwin,  while  on  a  scientific  trip 
around  the  world,  discovered  ".  .  .  the 
first  evidence  of  the  existence  of  an- 
cient horses"  in  South  America.  In 
reporting  the  foregoing  evidence,  Dar- 
win wrote: 

In  the  Pampaean  deserts  at  the  Bajada, 
...  I  found  also  teeth  of  the  Toxoden  and 
Mastodon,  and  one  tooth  of  a  horse,  in  the 
same  stained  and  decayed  state.  This  lat- 
ter tooth  greatly  interested  me  (I  need 
hardly  state  here  that  there  is  good  evidence 
against  any  horse  living  in  America  at  the 
time  of  Columbus)  and  I  took  scrupulous 
care  in  ascertaining  that  it  had  been  im- 
bedded contemporaneously  with  the  other 
remains;  for  I  was  not  then  aware  that 
amongst  the  fossils  from  Bahia  Blanca  there 
was  a  horse's  tooth  hidden  in  the  matrix, 
nor  was  it  then  known  with  certainty  that 
the  remains  of  horses  are  common  in  North 
America.  Mr.  Lyell  had  lately  brought 
from  the  United  States  the  tooth  of  a  horse; 
.  .  .  Certainly  it  is  a  marvelous  fact  in  the 
history  of  the  Mammalia  that  in  South 
America  a  native  horse  should  have  lived 
and  disappeared,  to  be  succeeded  in  after 
ages  by  the  countless  herds  descended  from 
the  few  introduced  with  the  Spanish  colo- 
nists.17 

In  1866,  a  scientist  named  Andrew 
Murray  published  the  data  then 
known  on  horses  in  ancient  America. 
To  quote: 

We  know  that  the  horse  existed  in  the  Old 
and  New  World  both  previous  and  subse- 
quent to  the  glacial  epoch.  .  .  .  Extinct 
species  are  known  belonging  to  three  genera 
of  horses  in  the  drift  or  post-glacial  de- 
posits of  a  recent  period.  .  .  .  The  oc- 
currence of  a  distinct  rehabilitation  of  the 
common  species  by  man  in  both  South 
and  North  America.  The  first  trace  of  it 
was  discovered  by  Darwin.  .  .  ,1S 

And  then  Murray  concluded  that 
".  .  .  it  was  well  established  that  no 


1GPack,   op.   cit.,   p.  243. 

17Charles  Darwin,  Natural  History  and  Geology  of 
the  Countries  Visited  During  the  Voyage  of  H.  M.  S. 
Beagle  Round  the  World  (New  York,  1846),  vol.  1, 
pp.    165-166. 

18Andrew  Murray,  The  Geographical  Distribution  of 
Animals   (London,    1866),   pp.    134-135. 


horse  was  living  in  America  at  the 
time  of  Columbus.  .  .  ."iy  This  be- 
lief is  still  held  by  practically  all 
writers.  Only  last  year  Dr.  Paul 
Herrmann,  a  German  scholar,  stated 
that  ".  .  .  There  were  no  horses  in 
America  prior  to  Columbus,  .  .  ."20 
Also,  Robert  Moorman  Denhardt, 
who  in  1947  wrote  an  entire  volume 
on  The  Horse  of  the  Americas,  main- 
tained that: 

.  .  .  Only  the  fossils  of  the  original  horse 
which  inhabited  the  Western  Hemisphere 
remained  when  Columbus  reintroduced 
Spanish-bred  mounts  into  the  New  World 
in  1493.  ...  In  any  case,  when  the  Span- 
iards  arrived,  there  were   no   horses.21 

In  Flower  and  Lydekker's  work  on 
Mammals,  published  in  1891,  the  fol- 
lowing statement  appears: 

Fossil  remains  of  horses  are  found 
abundantly  in  the  deposits  of  the  most  re- 
cent geological  age  in  almost  every  part 
of  America,  from  Eschscholtz  Bay  in  the 
north  to  Patagonia  in  the  south.  In  that 
continent,  however,  they  became  quite  ex- 
tinct, and  no  horses,  either  wild  or  domesti- 
cated, existed  there  at  the  time  of  the  Span- 
ish conquest,  which  is  the  more  remarkable 
as,  when  introduced  from  Europe,  the  horses 
that  ran  wild  proved  by  their  rapid  multipli- 
cation in  the  plains  of  the  South  and  Texas 
that  the  climate,  food,  and  other  circum- 
stances were  highly  favorable  for  their 
existence.  The  former  great  abundance  of 
Equidae  (horses)  in  America,  their  complete 
extinction,  and  their  perfect  acclimatization 
when  re-introduced  by  men,  form  curious, 
but  as  yet  unsolved  problems  in  geographi- 
cal distribution." 

The  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  in  New  York  City  has  de- 
voted considerable  attention  to  the 
collecting  of  remains  of  ancient  Amer- 
ican horses  and  has  done  extensive 
research  in  that  field.  The  studies 
of  the  scientists  connected  with  this 
institution  have  demonstrated  that 
horses  in  ancient  America  ".  .  .  range 
greatly  in  size,  in  fact  even  more  than 
the  diminutive  Shetland,  and  the  gi- 
gantic Clyde."23  In  a  pamphlet  pub- 
lished in  1903  on  the  horse,  under  a 
topic  headed  "Fossil  Remains  of  the 
Age  of  Man,"  the  following  statements 
are  made: 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Quaternary 
Period,  wild  species  of  horse  were  to  be 
found  on  every  continent  except  Australia. 
Remains   of   these   true   native   horses   have 


728 


luIbid.,   p.    166. 

"°Paul  Herrmann,  Conquest  by  Man  (New  York, 
1954),   p.    180. 

a:1Robert  Moorman  Denhardt,  The  Horse  of  the 
Americas    (Norman,   Oklahoma,    1947),    p.   5. 

"-Flower  and  Lydekker,  Mammals  (London,  1891), 
pp.  381-382. 

^Pack,   op.    cit.,   p.   246. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


been  found  buried  in  the  strata  of  this  age 
in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  in  Alaska, 
in  Mexico,  in  Ecuador,  Brazil,  and  Argen- 
tina, as  well  as  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa. 
All  these  horses  were  much  like  the  living 
species  and  most  of  them  are  included  in 
the  genus  Equus.  .  .  . 

All  these  horses  became  extinct,  both  in 
North  and  South  America.  Why,  we  do 
not  know.  .  .  ,a 

A  complete  skeleton  of  a  horse  was 
found  in  northern  Texas  in  1899  by 
an  expedition  of  scientists  sent  out  by 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History.  Numerous  specimens  of  fos- 
sil horses  have  been  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  especially 
in  Nebraska,  Oregon,  Florida,  Texas, 
Arizona,  Kansas,  and  Louisiana.  The 
following  is  quoted  from  an  official 
publication  of  the  Los  Angeles  County 
Museum  on  the  subject  of  existence 
of  horses  in  early  times  in  America 
as  is  evidenced  from  the  finds  made 
in  the  asphalt  deposits  of  Rancho  La 
Brea: 

The  presence  of  herds  of  horses  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  asphalt  deposits  during  the 
period  of  accumulation  is  clearly  testified  to 
by  the  numerous  remains  of  these  mammals 
found  at  Rancho  La  Brea.  While  many 
individuals  are  recorded  in  the  collections, 
all  of  them  belong  to  a  single  species,  the 
extinct  western  horse  (Equus  occidentalis 
Leidy).  In  stage  of  evolution  and  in  gen- 
eral body  structure  this  type  resembles  the 
modern  horse,  although  differing  from  it  in 
a  number  of  specific  details.  Standing  on 
the  average  about  14'/2  hands  (4  feet,  10 
inches)  at  the  withers,  this  animal  was  of 
the  height  of  a  modern  Arab  horse.  It 
was,  however,  of  considerably  heavier 
build.  .  .  . 

These  horses,  like  their  living  relatives, 
were  one-toed  animals.  Limb  and  body 
are  supported  by  the  enlarged  third  toe, 
while  slender  splintlike  bones  represent  the 
elements  which  during  an  earlier  history 
of  the  horse  group  were  more  fully  de- 
veloped and  carried  the  second  and  fourth 
toes.  The  hoofs  in  the  Rancho  La  Brea 
species  are  distinctly  smaller  and  more 
slender  than  in  the  larger  type  of  existing 
horses.  In  this  respect  again,  a  greater 
resemblance  is  seen  to  exist  with  the  asses 
and   zebras. 

The  species,  Equus  occidentalis,  has  been 
known  heretofore  by  isolated  teeth  and 
fragmentary  skull  material  collected  in 
Pleistocene  deposits  in  Tuolumne  County 
and  in  the  Buena  Vista  Lake  region  of 
Kern  County.  Following  indentification  of 
this  form  on  the  basis  of  the  complete  re- 
mains at  Rancho  La  Brea,  Equus  occi- 
dentalis has  been  recorded  from  several  ad- 
ditional Pleistocene  locations  in  California. 
It  is  now  known  by  many  specimens  that 
have  been  recovered  from  the  asphalt  de- 
posits of  McKittrick. 

Horses  were  among  the  more  common 
types  of  hoofed  mammals  on  the  North 
American  continent  during  Pleistocene  time 

(Continued  on  page  732) 


Enjoy  America's  smartest 

si.li*  service  to  America's  smartest 

winter  playgrounds 

$>cLOS  ANGELES  JOrSAN  DIEGO  4£pALM  SPRINGS 
;6cLAS  VEGAS  $':PHOENIX  ^TUCSON 

Euxnry  beyond  compare.  ..nut  wo  extra  fare  J 


WESTERN 

AIRLINES 


2VW.   D.   Matthew,   Supplement  to  American  Museum 
Journal     (New    York,    January,     1903),    cited    in    ibid. 

OCTOBER  1955 


729 


J 


AS  GENERAL  ELECTRIC  SEES  IT..m 


Here  are  5  ways  to 


For  every  5  new  engineers  industry 
needed  this  year,  there  were  only 
3   graduated   from    U.  S.   colleges 

In  1955,  U.  S.  industry  had  jobs  for  an  esti- 
mated 37,000  engineers;  our  colleges  grad- 
uated 21,500."""  This  shortage,  typical  of 
recent  years,  is  creating  an  increasingly 
serious  problem  —  for  engineers  and  sci- 
entists hold  the  key  to  progress  in  this 
swift-moving  technological  age. 

At  General  Electric,  for  example,  nearly 
17,500  of  our  people  are  trained  in  engi- 
neering or  science,  and  we  have  oppor- 
tunities for  a  thousand  more  technically 
trained  people  each  year.  The  need  may 
double  in  the  next  10  years. 

As  we  see  it,  industry,  working  with  edu- 
cational institutions,  can  do  much  to  solve 
the  shortage.  On  these  two  pages  are  some 
of  the  things  we  believe  will  help: 

*  Estimates  are  from  the  Engineering  Manpower 
Commission  of  the  Engineers  Joint  Council. 


3  Help  schools  financially.  Nearly  half  of  U.  S. 
■  colleges  operate  in  the  red.  Since  1922,  G.E.'s 
aid-to-education  program  has  included  fellowships, 
scholarships,  and  other  financial  support.  In  addi- 
tion, the  General  Electric  Educational  and  Char- 
itable Fund  matches,  dollar  for  dollar  up  to  $1,000  a 
year,  contributions  by  each  employee  to  his  college. 


For  a  detailed  discussion  of  our  views  on 
"Basic  Relations  Between  Education  and  the 
Economy"  write  General  Electric,  Depart- 
ment  M2-119,   Schenectady,  New    York. 


■ill 


help  solve  Americas  critical  shortage  of  engineers 


IHelp  guide  young  people's  careers.  More  high-school  students 
■  will  take  the  courses  they  need  to  become  engineers  if  they  know 
of  the  wide  opportunities  in  the  field.  Since  the  1920's,  General 
Electric  has  tried  to  create  interest  by  distributing  a  variety  of  school 
training  aids.  (Above,  a  teacher  counsels  students,  using  a 
G-E  career  guidance  booklet,  "Why  Study  Math?")  In  the  past  10 
years,  schools  have  requested  63,000,000  copies  of  our  training  aids. 


4  Educate  employees  on  the  job.  The  development  of  young  people 
■  must  continue  after  they  start  to  work.  At  General  Electric, 
we  have  12  formal  educational  programs ;  the  oldest  —  Engineering 
—  was  started  nearly  60  years  ago.  (Above,  Clarence  Linder,  Vice- 
President  —  Engineering  Services,  reviews  work  of  engineers  en- 
rolled in  our  Creative  Engineering  Program.)  More  than  10,000  tech- 
nically trained  men  and  women  have  participated  in  these  programs. 


2  Bring  businessmen  and  educators  together.  An  understanding  of 
■  the  role  math  and  science  play  in  business  can  help  teachers  pre- 
pare students  for  careers.  The  group  above  is  the  latest  of  1,450  high- 
school  teachers  to  attend  G.E.-sponsored  summer  fellowship  pro- 
grams. Here  they  have  the  opportunity  to  study  at  several  leading 
colleges  and  to  see  firsthand  the  value  of  their  work  to  business.  We 
have  also  conducted  conferences  for  college  educators  since  1924. 


C  Encourage  self-development.  Young  people  with  aptitude  should 
be  helped  to  move  ahead.  For  example,  the  young  men  above 
joined  our  Apprentice  Training  Program  as  high-school  graduates  in 
1949;  this  year  they  are  graduate  engineers  from  the  U.  of  New 
Hampshire  after  a  6-year  work-and-study  program  sponsored  by  our 
Meter  Department.  Donald  E.  Craig,  General  Manager  of  the  De- 
partment, congratulates  the  men  and  welcomes  them  to  full-time  jobs. 


Progress  /s  Our  Most  Important  Product 


GENERAL 


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1  here  is  no  substitute  for  the  grandeur  of  a  traditional  pipe 
organ  to  enhance  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  religious  services. 
And,  there  is  no  pipe  organ  so  true  to  this  great  tradition  as 
the  Wicks.  That  is  why  so  many  of  our  greatest  churches  have 
chosen  Wicks  above  all  others. 

Yet,  we  feel  that  our  greatest  achievement  is  building  the  same 
magnificent  tonal  quality  into  the  Wicks  Organs  for  smaller 
churches.  May  we  show  you  how,  even  on  a  modest  budget, 
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Archaeology  and  the 
Book  of  Mormon 

(Continued  from  page  729) 

and  several  distinct  species  have  been  de- 
scribed from  fossil  remains.  The  abun- 
dance and  widespread  distribution  of  horses 
in  North  America  make  the  apparent  disap- 
pearance of  the  group  in  this  region  prior 
to  the  advent  of  the  white  man  an  added 
and  an  unusual  feature  of  their  long  and 
eventful  career.25 

Denhardt  suggests  that  in  the  earli- 
est of  times  the  horse  may  have  orig- 
inated in  America.    To  quote: 

It  seems  only  right  that  America,  ap- 
parently designed  by  nature  to  provide  an 
ideal  home  for  the  horse,  may  be  the  foun- 
tainhead  of  equine  existence.  .  .  .20 

.  .  .  During  these  long  ages  the  early 
horse  was  extremely  abundant,  and  at  least 
four  migrations  took  place  from  the  New 
World  to  the  Old.  Of  these  migrations, 
only  the  last  group  of  wanderers  survived. 
In  the  Americas  the  original  stock  died  out 
completely.  From  Manitoba  to  Patagonia 
the  horse  disappeared  from  the  Western 
Hemisphere. 

With  the  advent  of  the  Spanish  con-- 
quistadores,  the  American  horse,  after  wan- 
dering far  over  the  earth,  journeyed  again 
to  what  may  well  have  been  his  homeland 
and  to  his  rightful  place  in  the  history  of 
the  hemisphere.  Thus  moving  ever  west- 
ward around  the  globe,  the  horse  had  at 
last  returned  to  the  plains  of  America — a 
unique  American  Odyssey.27 

Thus  the  claims  made  by  the  Book 
of  Mormon  of  horses  in  ancient  Amer- 
ica are  supported  by  the  numerous 
fossil  remains  of  horses  that  have 
been  obtained,  not  only  in  the  asphalt 
deposits  of  southern  California,  but 
also  from  numerous  places  through- 
out the  Americas.  Furthermore,  many 
writers  have  made  available  to  the 
public  a  vast  amount  of  information 
regarding  the  existence  of  horses  on 
the  Western  Hemisphere  in  ancient 
times. 

In  a  recent  study  (1951)  on  the 
history  of  the  horse,  George  Gaylord 
Simpson  gives  the  view  usually  pre- 
sented by  writers  of  our  day.  For 
example,  he  wrote: 

The  extinction  of  horses  over  the  whole 
of  North  and  South  America,  ...  is  one 
of  the  most  mysterious  episodes  of  animal 
history.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  fact, 
but  the  reason  for  it  is  doubtful  to  say 
the  least.28 

(Continued  on  page  734) 


732 


^Chester  Stock,  Rancho  La  Brca,  A  Record  of 
Pleistocene  Life  in  California  (Los  Angeles),  pp.  42- 
43. 

^'Denhardt,    op.    cit.,    p.   5. 

'"Ibid.,   p.   9. 

^George    Gaylord    Simpson,    Horses,     The    Story    of 
the  Horse  Family  in  the  Modern   World  and   Through . 
Sixty  Million   Years   of   History    (New   York,    1951),    p. 
148. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


IT'S  PERFORMANCE  THAI  COUNTS! 

CAPTAIN  JOE  S.  ANDERSON  tells  why  he  uses  Flite-Fuei 


"I'm  Captain  of  an  American  Airlines  DC-7  Flag- 
ship. I  know  that  Phillips  66  Aviation  Gasoline  is 
outstanding  for  performance  because  we  use  it 
regularly.  In  '  Avgas'  it's  performance  that  counts  . .  . 
and  I  judge  automobile  gasoline  the  same  way. 

"In  my  car  I  use  Phillips  66  Flite-Fuel.  Flite- 
Fuel  is  the  only  automobile  gasoline  with  added 
Di-isopropyl,  a  high-powered  aviation  fuel  compo- 
nent. It  gives  wonderful  performance  in  my  car." 


ArSitper  fierfiMn&ncef 


If  it's  top  performance  you  want,  fill  up  with  powerful  new  Flite-Fuel. 
Today's  Flite-Fuel  is  better  than  ever.  Both  new  Flite-Fuel  and  new 
Phillips  66  Gasoline  have  been  fortified  for  increased  power,  higher 
octane,  longer  mileage.  Both  Flite-Fuel  and  Phillips  66  Gasoline  are 
cleaner  burning,  so  they  need  no  anti-fouling  additive.  Remember,  the 
one  real  test  of  motor  fuel  is:  how  it  performs  in  your  car.  Try  a  tankful 
at  your  Phillips  66  Dealer's. 

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OCTOBER  1955 


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ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON 


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(Continued  from  page  732) 
Dr.  Alfred  S.  Romer  discussed  the 
various    finds    of    horse    remains    in 
southwestern  United  States  and  then 
he  concluded: 

There  is  a  very  strong  evidence  that 
horses,  two  genera  of  camels,  a  mammoth, 
the  sloth,  Nothr other ium,  two  extinct  genera 
of  "antelopes,"  and  the  giant  "cat,"  Felix 
Aatrox,    existed    in   the    southwest    in   com- 


paratively modern  post-Pleistocene  times. 
This  immediately  suggests  a  comparison 
with  the  La  Brea  fauna,  of  which  these 
forms   are  typical  members.29 

Dr.   Frederick  J.   Pack  stated   that 

Professor    W.    D.    Matthew    of    the 

(Continued  on  page  736) 


-••Alfred  S.  Romer,  In  Jenness,  The  American  Aborig- 
ines (1933),  p.  72,  cited  in  John  A.  Widtsoe  and 
Franklin  S.  Harris,  Jr.,  Seven  Claims  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon   (Independence,    1936),   p.   80. 


y>  >*^K9v^^>j>^X3v£nS:5X!>5S^^ 


OL    Be 


eammna 


or    ^Jkl 


Richard  L.  Evans 


T  ast  week  we  spoke  of  the  beginning  of  things — of  men 
*J  who  have  had  the  courage  to  move  into  uninhabited 
places,  and  to  make  good  beginnings.  Today  we  should  like 
to  turn  to  another  side  of  the  subject:  of  the  beginning  of 
trends  and  tendencies >  of  the  beginnings  of  habits;  of  quar- 
rels; of  good  or  bad  qualities  of  character;  of  the  beginnings 
of  the  symptoms  of  siokness.  So  often  we  ignore  the  first 
symptoms.  So  often  we  wait  until  things  are  well  under- 
way before  we  think  they  are  serious  or  significant.  So  often 
we  wait  until  we  are  ill  before  we  are  willing  to  live  in  a  way 
that  would  have  kept  our  health  when  we  had  it.  Too  much 
of  our  lives  comes  under  the  category  of  trying  to  correct 
things  that  shouldn't  have  happened.  No  doubt  we  should 
learn  better  the  practice  of  preventive  medicine.  There  is  a 
premium  for  preventing  things  from  happening  that  shouldn't 
happen.  Sanitation  comes  under  this  category — preventing 
disease  from  getting  started,  rather  than  curing  epidemics. 
Safety  comes  under  this  category — preventing  accidents  from 
happening,  rather  than  rushing  to  the  scene  of  an  accident 
with  an  ambulance.  Fire  prevention  comes  under  this  cate- 
gory-— keeping  things  from  beginning  to  burn,  rather  than 
running  in  with  the  hose  and  the  ax  after  the  fire  has  done 
its  damage.  Beginnings!  Symptoms!  If  we  would  only 
watch  the  beginnings  of  things  and  live  as  we  ought  to  live, 
we  could  save  ourselves  many  heartaches  and  spare  our- 
selves many  things  that  have  no  right  or  reason  to  get  started, 
and  we  could  prevent  many  tragic  break-ups  between  people 
who  ought  to  keep  close  to  one  another.  If  we  would  watch 
the  symptoms  in  our  boys  and  girls,  the  attitudes  they  have, 
the  directions  they  tend  to  take,  and  keep  close  to  them,  we 
could  prevent  many  tragic  errors.  (We  have  a  right  to 
parental  intuition  and  to  the  guidance  of  Divine  Providence 
in  meeting  the  problems  of  young  people,  if  we  will  live  for 
it — and  watch  beginnings.)  If  we  would  watch  symptoms, 
first  showings,  beginnings,  we  could  come  closer  to  keeping 
healthy,  to  keeping  happy,  to  keeping  sound,  to  keeping 
solvent,  and  would  not  spend  so  much  of  our  effort  in  trying 
to  stop  things  that  never  should  have  gotten  a  good  start. 
The  beginnings  of  things — watch  beginnings! 


-Jke, 


S^pokevi     vWoi'd 


734 


jpohen,     worn        from  temple  square 

PRESENTED  OVER  KSL  AND  THE  COLUMBIA  BROADCASTING 

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Copyright,    1955 

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ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON 


(Continued  from  page  734) 

American   Museum  of   Natural  His- 
tory, New  York  City, 

.  .  .  one  of  the  foremost  scientists,  thinks 
it  not  impossible  that  some  [horses]  may 
have  lingered  on  as  late  at  the  fifteenth 
century.  .  .  .  He  implies  that  a  few  of  them 
may  have  lived  down  to  the  time  of  Colum- 
bus.:!0 


To  quote  Dr.  Matthew: 

...  It  is  very  probable  that  man  .  .  . 
played  a  large  part  in  extinguishing  the  race 
[of  horses].  .  .  .  Whatever  the  cause,  the 
horse  had  disappeared  from  the  New  World 
when  the  white  man  invaded  it  (unless  a 
few  individuals  still  lingered  on  the  remote 
plains  of  South  America),  and  in  his  place 
the  bison  had  come  and  spread  over  die 
prairies  of  the  North.31 


30Frederick  J.  Pack,  "Revelation  Ante-Dating  Scien- 
tific Discovery — An  Instance,"  The  Improvement  Era 
(Salt    Lake    City,    June,    1907),    vol.    10,    pp.    596-597. 


;!1W.  D.  Matthew,  Supplement  to  American  Muscur: 
Journal  (2nd  ed.,  New  York,  May,  1905),  cited  ii 
ibid. 


Available  Now 

At  Your  Local 

LUMBER  DEALER 


Distributed  by 

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&  CO. 

Building  Material  Distributors 


736 


J  he     {Question    or    \c^mulna 

Richard  L.  Evans 

Summer  has  all  but  slipped  away.  Every  year  it  happens— 
more  swiftly  it  seems — and  the  passing  of  summer  brings 
with  it  decisions — decisions  particularly  for  young  people — ■ 
decisions  as  to  what  to  do  for  the  future:  whether  or  not 
to  return  to  school;  whether  or  not  to  quit  or  to  stay  with 
what  they  have  started  in  life's  long  period  of  preparation. 
There  is  much  reason  for  sympathy  with  young  people  in 
the  decisions  they  face  these  days.  First  of  all,  they  don't 
altogether  own  their  own  lives — young  men  especially.  Be- 
sides the  more  or  less  "normal"  reasons  for  restlessness,  they 
have  added  obligations  placed  upon  them,  and  are  faced 
with  perennial  and  repeated  intrusions  upon  their  plans— all 
of  which  adds  an  element  of  uncertainty.  And  often  there 
seems  to  be  something  intangibly  contagious  in  the  very  air 
and  atmosphere,  that  prompts  giving  up  prolonged  prepara- 
tion to  satisfy  immediate  demands.  But  one  of  the  great 
lessons  of  life  is  to  learn  to  appreciate  the  opportunities  for 
preparation,  despite  uncertainties  and  interruptions.  And 
one  of  the  great  characteristics  of  youth  is  to  have  the  cour- 
age and  faith  to  face  the  future.  It  is  true  that  there  often 
are  real  reasons  for  restlessness.  But  sometimes  young  peo- 
ple quit  without  real  cause  to  quit.  Sometimes  they  quit 
because  they  feel  that  they  must  have  more  money — that 
they  must  "work  awhile,"  that  they  will  stay  out  "only  this 
one  year."  But  time  goes  so  very  quickly,  and  a  year  in 
which  we  merely  mark  time  or  simply  succumb  to  restlessness 
is  likely  to  be  a  lost  year.  And  so  we  suggest  to  you  who  are 
young:  That  you 'settle  down  and  make  the  most  of  your 
opportunities  for  preparation,  for  development,  for  service, 
for  seeing  things  through.  The  best  thing  you  can  do  for 
yourself,  your  country,  your  family,  and  your  future  is  to 
make  yourself  as  capable  and  competent  as  you  can.  The 
best  thing  you  can  do  for  your  own  life  and  your  loved  ones 
is  to  make  good  beginnings  as  to  the  solid  things,  solid  learn- 
ing, solid  living — to  begin  to  build  solidly,  to  endure  to  the 
end,  to  see  things  through.* 


Uke    Spoken     Word         from  temple  square 

PRESENTED  OVER  KSL  AND  THE  COLUMBIA  BROADCASTING 
SYSTEM,  AUGUST  7,   1955 

Copyright,    1955 


*Rcviscd. 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


"Alfred  Sherwood  Romer  places 
man  in  America  when  horses  were 
still  here."32  George  Gaylord  Simp- 
son (1951)  presented  a  number  of 
possible  causes  for  the  extermination 
of  horses  in  both  North  and  South 
America,  maintaining  that  they  were 
still  here,  however,  while  these  conti- 
nents were  inhabited  by  man.  To 
quote: 

Did  man  possibly  kill  off  the  horses?  It 
is  now  clear  that  wild  horses  still  survived 
both  in  North  and  South  America  when  the 
earliest  Indians  reached  these  lands  .  .  . 
These  Indians  probably  killed  horses  for 
food — but  in  North  America  they  certainly 
killed  large  numbers  of  bison,  and  bison 
did  not  become  extinct.  If  horses  were 
already  on  the  wane,  the  herds  becoming 
few  and  weak,  then  persecution  by  man 
might  have  provided  the  finishing  touch.  It 
is,  however,  almost  inconceivable  that  the 
Indians  alone  put  an  end  to  the  whole  vast 
population  of  the  late  Pleistocene  horse  over 
so  enormous  an  area.33 

Simpson  also  stated: 

There  are,  indeed,  persistent  legends  that 
wild  horses  still  lived  in  the  Argentine 
when  the  Spaniards  arrived  there  and  that 
their  blood  is  mingled  with  that  of  jinetas 
in  the  feral  pampas  horses,  but  careful 
study  by  A.  Cabrera  and  others  indicates 
that  these  legends  are  just  legends.34 

The  writer  checked  this  possibility 
by  writing  to  the  Departments  of 
Agriculture  of  each  of  the  South 
American  countries.  A  reply  was  re- 
ceived from  practically  all  of  them. 
Those  who  replied  were  all  in  agree- 
ment that  there  were  no  horses  in 
South  America  at  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  conquest,  and  so  it  is  evident 
that  they  have  accepted  the  prevalent 
viewpoint  of  the  complete  extermina- 
tion of  horses  before  Columbus  dis- 
covered the  New  World. 

Although  almost  all  writers  main- 
tain that  the  horse  had  been  exter- 
minated in  the  western  hemisphere 
before  the  arrival  of  Columbus,  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  explain  how  wild 
horses  became  so  numerous  in  both 
South  and  North  America  so  quickly 
following  the  arrival  of  the  first  Span- 
ish conquistador es;  for  example,  in 
1535  at  Buenos  Aires,  Pedro  Mendoza 
is  reported  to  ".  .  .  have  turned  loose 
five  mares  and  seven  horses,  although 
it  seems  more  probable  that  they 
would  have  been  salted  down  for 
provisions"35  Forty-five  ye&rs  later, 
the  following  was  reported: 

...  At  the  second  founding  of  Buenos 
Aires   in    1580,  Juan   Garay  found   that  the 

(Continued  on  following  page) 

:-'Denhardt,    op.    cit.,    p.    5. 
::33impson,   op.   cit.,   p.    150. 
■^Ibid.,    p.    147. 
■^'Dernhardt,   op.    cit.,    p.   34. 

OCTOBER  1955 


Your  captain 

and  crew 

will  sail  into  this 

OYSTER-TUNA 
BUCCANEER 


e$sy  seape  tntfe  with. . . 

White  Star  Tender  Tuna  Cuts 

OYSTER-TUNA  BUCCANEER  •  Cook  M/2  cups 
elbow  macaroni  as  directed  on  package. 
While  it  cooks,  melt  2  tablespoons  butter. 
Stir  in  1 '/;  tablespoons  flour  and  liquid  from 
1  can  Willapoint  Brand  Oyster  Stew.  Cook, 
stirring,  until  smooth.  Add  I  cup  diced  proc- 
ess Cheddar  cheese.  Heat  gently  until  cheese 
is  melted.  Mix  with  drained  macaroni.  Add 
1  can  (6'/2-  or  7-oz.)  White  Star  Brand  Tuna, 
coarsely  flaked,  and  oysters  from  stew.  Heat 
and  serve  at  once.  Or  pour  into  shallow  1  '/j- 
qt.  baking  dish,  dot  top  with  thin  tomato 
wedges  and  bake  at  375°  (moderate]  15  to 
20  min.  Makes  4  servings. 


Look  /or  -ffje  Blonde  Metmld 


On  the  label  for  America's  Greatest  Names  in  Sea  Food, 
and  in  the  Pirate  Ship  Restaurant  at  Disneyland. 

CHICKEN  OF  THE  SEA,  INCORPORATED,  a  Division  of 
Van  Camp  Sea  Food  Company,  Inc.,  Terminal  Island,  California 


737 


Ground-in  dirt  makes  work  clothes  a 
problem  on  washday.  But  not  if  you  pro- 
tect them  with  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse. 
The  light  finish  of  starch  helps  keep  dirt 
on  the  surface,  requires  less  hard  scrub- 
bing next  washday.  See  directions  below 
for  the  famous    Faultless   Starch-Rinse. 


Children's  play  clothes  require  less 
scrubbing,  too,  if  you  give  them  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse.  It 
requires  no  separate  starching  job.  You 
starch  and  rinse  in  one  easy  operation. 
Directions  for  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse 
are  given  below. 


How  to  make  "problem"  articles 
easy  to  wash  and  iron 


Sheets  and  pillow  cases  look  better, 

are  easier  to  iron  if  you  give  them  a  light 
finish  of  Faultless  Starch.  They  stay  fresh 
longer,  feel  cool,  comfortable.  R's  no 
problem  to  give  linens  this  "hotel"  finish 
if  you  use  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse. 
Easy  directions  are  below. 


Tea  towels  won't  shed  lint  on  glasses 
if  the  "fuzz"  is  smoothed  down  with  a 
light  finish  of  Faultless  Starch.  They're 
easier  to  iron,  too,  because  Faultless 
Starch  contains  ironing-aids.  R's  so  easy 
to  do  if  you  use  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse. 
See  directions  below. 


Overalls  and  jeans  will  be  no  problem 
next  washday  if  you  give  them  a  light 
starching  with  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse. 
They  need  less  scrubbing  and  are  easier 
to  iron.  Give  everything  you  wash  the 
Faultless  Starch-Rinse.  See  next  panel 
for  easy  directions. 


How  to  do  the  Faultless  Starch-Rinse: 

Simply  add  2  qts.  of  extra  thick  hot  starch 
(made  according  to  directions  on  the 
Faultless  Starch  box)  to  your  last  tub  of 
rinse  water.  Rinse  and  wring  as  usual. 
You'll  find  this  makes  problem  articles 
easy  to  wash  and  iron. 


WARNING: 

Starch  only. 

738 


The  method  described  above  has  been  tested  and  proved  for  Faultless 
Perfect  results  cannot  be  assured  if  any  other  starch  is  used. 


Archaeology  and  the 
Book  of  Mormon 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

whole  province  was  full  of  wild  horses. 
The  herds  flooded  the  entire  pampas,  from 
the  shores  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  to  the 
Rio  Negro,  and  were  even  found  in  large 
numbers  in  Patagonia.  Father  Bernabe 
Cobo,  S.  J.,  says  that  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul 
a  horse  was  worth  nothing.  To  illustrate 
how  numerous  horses  became,  there  was  a 
common  saying,  "In  Montevideo  the  beggars 
ride.":M 

Denhardt  explained  that: 

The  Spaniards  did  not  know  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  that  there  were  no  horses  in 
the  New  World.  In  fact,  until  some  time 
after  Columbus'  death  they  thought  that 
there  were.  Columbus  himself  on  his 
fourth  voyage  wrote  the  King:  "It  was  told 
that  those  on  the  shore  of  Veragua  [Pan- 
ama] had  horses  which  they  used  in 
battle.™7 

Drs.  John  A.  Widtsoe  and  Franklin 
S.  Harris,  Jr.,  arrived  at  the  following 
conclusion: 

.  .  .  Some  doubt  has  been  cast  upon  the 
Book  of  Mormon  account  which  mentions 
horses  because  there  is  no  record  of  horses 
having  been  in  America  at  the  time  of  the 
early  explorers.  It  is  well  known,  however, 
that  the  horse  was  numerous  and  wide- 
spread on  the  American  continent  in  recent 
geological  times,  and  the  absence  of  the 
mention  of  the  horse  in  the  scant  records 
of  the  first  explorers  is  not  a  proof  that  the 
horse  was  not  really  there,  in  fact  evidence 
of  the  pre-Columbian  use  in  South  America 
of  horses  for  burden  bearing  seemed  con- 
clusive.38 

If  there  were  horses  still  living  on 
either  of  the  American  continents  at 
the  time  of  the  discoverv  of  the  West- 

J 

ern  Hemisphere  and  its  occupation  by 
Europeans,  that  portion  of  the  study 
regarding  horses  in  America  awaits 
further  investigation  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  much  more  evidence. 

Now  let  us  have  a  brief  look  at 
evidence  which  shows  that  the  Ameri- 
can Indians  were  acquainted  with 
horses  and  actually  domesticated  and 
used  them  before  the  coming  of  the 
Europeans.  Such  evidence  may  indi- 
cate the  continuance  of  the  use  of 
horses  following  the  close  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon  records. 

Indian  pictographs  on  the  rock 
walls  of  shallow  caves  and  canyon 
ledges,  carved  in  the  most  out-of-the- 
way  and  difficult  terrains  in  the  west- 
ern portion  of  the  United  States, 
clearly  show  that  the  Indians  were 
acquainted  with  horses;  for  example, 

mud.,  p.  35. 
^Ibid.,  p.  28. 
^Widtsoe  and  Harris,  op.   cit.,  p.  80. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


there  is  a  likeness  of  a  wild  horse 
carved  on  the  edge  of  a  cliff  in  Pic- 
ture Canyon,  Cimarron  County, 
Oklahoma.  W.  Douglas  Hartley 
wrote  the  following  regarding  this 
horse: 

The  unbridled  horse  was  found  in  Pic- 
ture Canyon  some  two  or  three  miles  up 
from  the  Hallock  Park  ranch  house.  The 
fact  that  the  lower  part  of  the  legs  is  not 
shown  perhaps  indicates  that  the  horse, 
being  both  wild  and  fleet-footed,  could  not 
be  approached  closely  enough  for  the  artist 
to  observe  the  hoof  formation.38 

It  is  impossible  to  obtain  the  exact 
date  of  the  carving  of  this  horse,  but 
it  is  believed  by  those  who  have 
studied  it  that  this  pictograph  could 
date  during  the  B.  C.  period  or  be- 
tween that  period  and  the  eighth 
century  A.D.  Certainly  it  is  main- 
tained that  such  a  carving  was  made 
before  the  discovery  of  America  and 
the  bringing  of  horses  to  this  land 
by  the  Spaniards.  If  such  is  the  case, 
the  carving  of  the  unbridled  horse  in 
Picture  Canyon  was  not  influenced 
by  those  events.  The  following  is 
quoted  from  an  article  written  by  W. 
Douglas  Hartley: 

.  .  .  The  findings  indicate  the  presence 
of  men  in  Oklahoma  much  earlier  than 
had  been  suspected.  Certainly  these  carv- 
ings were  done  by  people  more  primitive 
than  the  ones  who  built  the  well-known 
dwellings  at  Mesa  Verda,  Chaco  Canyon, 
and  other  sites.  The  cliff  dwellers  are  be- 
lieved to  have  made  their  communities 
sometime  after  the  Eighth  Century.  Every- 
thing found  in  the  Cimarron,  however, 
points  to  greater  antiquity.40 

Also  the  same  author  states  that 
".  .  .  without  doubt,  some  of  these  rec- 
ords go  back  hundreds  of  years  before 
Christ."41  If  that  statement  is  true, 
the  records  would  date  into  early 
Nephite  times  and  perhaps  into  the 
Jaredite  period. 

Other  pictographs  made  by  Pueblo 
Indians  of  the  southwest  definitely 
show  the  Indians  not  only  knew  of 
wild  horses,  but  also  that  they  do- 
mesticated and  rode  them,  as  the  il- 
lustrations indicate.  It  is  impossible 
to  give  the  exact  date  of  their  picto- 
graphs, but  it  is  quite  certain  that  they 
were  made  before  the  Indians  had 
contact  with  white  man  and  obtained 
horses  from  them. 

Frank  Waters,  in  his  intensely  in- 
teresting and  scholarly  book  on  the 
Navajo   and   Pueblo   Indians,    main- 

(Continued  on  following  page) 

30W.    Douglas    Hartley,     "Indian    Drawings    of    the 
Cimarron  County,"  Ford  Times,  p.  34. 
mbid.,  p.  34. 
^lbid.,   p.  36. 

OCTOBER  1955 


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ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
tained  that  horses  roamed  the  south- 
ern  Rocky   Mountain   region   of   the 
United  States  during  the  days  of  the 
"Cliff  Dwellers."    To  quote: 

.  .  .  the  first  people  grasp  at  the  Rock. 

Shuddering  with  fear  they  looked  down 
at  the  dangers  lurking  below — at  the  moun- 
tains smoking  on  the  far  horizon;  the 
camels  and  lumbering  mammoths,  the 
thundering  herds  of  bison  and  wild  horses, 
and  the  savage  beasts  which  preyed  upon 
them;  .  •.  ,42 

The  evidence  presented  in  this  arti- 
cle definitely  shows  that  before  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  published  his 
translation  of  the  ancient  records  it 
was  the  universally  accepted  belief 
that  no  horses  existed  on  the  Western 
Hemisphere  previous  to  their  intro- 
duction by  the  Spaniards;  and  then 
the  Book  of  Mormon  came  forth  with 
definite  statements  not  only  of  the 
existence  of  horses  in  ancient  America 
but  also  of  their  domestication  and 
use  by  man  throughout  a  period  of 
many  hundreds  of  years.  Shortly 
thereafter  science  came  to  the  rescue 
of  the  Book  of  Mormon  claims  regard- 
ing horses  by  discovering  sufficient 
skeletons  which  supply  irrefutable 
evidence  that  vast  bands  of  horses 
roamed  the  Americas  in  prehistoric 
times  and  probably  for  an  indefinite 
period  after  the  coming  of  man  to  the 
New  World. 

In  addition  to  the  numerous  fossil 
remains  of  horses  that  have  been  ob- 
tained from  the  asphalt  deposits  of 
Rancho  La  Brea  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia and  elsewhere,  the  Indian 
pictographs  of  Picture  Canyon,  Okla- 
homa, and  those  of  the  Pueblo  In- 
dians of  the  southwestern  part  of  the 

'^Frank   Waters,    Masked   Cods — Navahn    and   Pueblo 
Cermonialism    (Albuquerque,    1950),    p.    21. 


United  States,  lend  additional  support 
to  the  claims  made  by  the  Book  of 
Mormon  that  horses  were  on  this 
continent  during  the  Jaredite  and 
Nephite  periods  and  that  they  were 
used  in  ancient  America  for  purposes 
similar  to  the  use  we  make  of  them 
today. 

The  claim  may  be  made  that  all  the 
fossil  remains  of  horses  pre-date  Book 
of  Mormon  times;  but  since  science 
has  definitely  proved  that  horses  were 
in  both  of  the  Americas  in  large  bands 
prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Jaredites 
and  the  Nephites,  there  is  no  logical 
reason  for  believing  that  they  could 
not  have  still  been  here  during  the 
period  in  which  those  ancient  civiliza- 
tions flourished.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  such  was  the  case  since  the  Book 
of  Mormon  makes  that  claim,  and 
also  the  Lord  himself  has  declared  the 
truthfulness  of  that  record  to  Martin 
Harris,  stating,  ".  .  .  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, .  .  .  contains  the  truth  and  the 
word  of  God—"4" 

Speaking  of  Joseph  Smith  and  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  the  Master  bore 
the  following  testimony  to  the  three 
witnesses: 

And  he  [Joseph]  has  translated  the  book, 
even  that  part  which  I  have  commanded 
him,  and  as  your  Lord  and  your  God  liveth 
it  is  true.44. 

Thus,  the  author  concludes  that 
during  the  time  which  has  passed 
since  the  days  of  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  modern  science  has  sustained 
latter-day  revelation  and  vindicated 
the  claims  made  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon that  horses  lived  in  ancient 
America. 

(To  be  continued) 


«D.   &  C.    19:26. 
"Ibid.,-  17:6. 


RICHES  AT  YOIR  FEET 


(Continued  from  page  711) 

commercial  fertilizer.  If  you  dig  the 
ground  well  in  the  fall,  working  into 
it  a  reasonable  amount  of  humus,  it 
should  be  mellow  and  easily  culti- 
vated as  soon  as  it  is  dry  enough  in 
the  spring. 

There  are  endless  books  and  maga- 
zines and  extension  programs  cover- 
ing the  important  subject  of  garden- 
ing. But  the  point  we  are  concerned 
with  is  the  ultimate  relationship  be- 
tween this  oldest  of  the  arts  of  man 


740 


and  his  material  and  spiritual  salva- 
tion. 

It  may  be  we  are  reaching  a  crisis 
in  human  destiny  by  overplaying  the 
herd  instinct  which  sends  us  into  a 
stampede  for  services  furnished  by 
someone  else,  while  our  own  contri- 
bution to  the  whole  is  constantly  nar- 
rowing.  The  biblical  dictum  about 
earning  our  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
our  brow  had  a  very  literal  applica- 
tion in  Old  Testament  times  and  has 
continued  to  be  in  high  repute 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


through  most  of  the  world's  history. 
Yet,  suddenly  we  find  ourselves  de- 
pending on  specialists  for  all  our  food. 
They  grow  it;  they  transport  it;  they 
process  it.  We  wait  for  it  in  a  tense, 
feverish  society,  constantly  exposed 
to  the  ills  of  war,  famine,  and  all 
forms  of  economic  dislocation. 

Not  that  specialization  is  bad — it 
has  brought  us  many  great  and  last- 
ing advantages.  Still,  like  other  good 
things,  it  can  be  overdone.  If  we 
are,  as  some  say,  trying  to  learn  more 
and  more  about  less  and  less,  we'll 
be  wise  to  put  a  few  roots  in  the 
ground  and  start  making  a  material 
contact  with  the  Creator  of  all  things. 
As  Harry  Harker  always  said,  "A  dol- 
lar saved  is  a  dollar  earned."  But  this 
is  only  part  of  it.  The  cultural  and 
spiritual  values  of  a  garden  are  in- 
estimable. The  garden  is  a  common 
factor  which  encourages  parents  and 
children  to  work,  rejoice,  and  worship 
together. 

Considered  on  the  material  side, 
some  of  the  basic  lessons  in  finance 
can  be  learned  in  connection  with 
the  home  garden.  Sharpen  your  pen- 
cil and  start  juggling  a  few  figures. 
Suppose  you  save  five  hundred  dol- 
lars a  year,  which  is  a  modest  possi- 
bility even  in  ordinary  times:  In  five 
years  you  will  have  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars  in  surplus  cash  if  you 
have  properly  integrated  this  bonus 
nature  has  thrown  back  to  you  with 
the  rest  of  your  income.  You  can 
buy  stocks,  bonds,  and  real  estate; 
and  the  moment  you  lay  the  cash  on 
the  line,  you've  increased  your  in- 
come again,  for  you  have  started  a 
sum  of  money  to  work  for  you. 

Meanwhile,  don't  forget  the  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  saved  by  the 
garden  will  continue  to  be  to  your 
advantage  as  long  as  you  do  your 
part  with  a  few  extra  man-hours. 
Since  the  garden  should  be  a  family 
affair  rather  than  an  individual  re- 
sponsibility, we  are  entitled  to  add 
woman-hours  and  child-hours,  for 
running  the  home  garden  is  not  slave 
labor.  It  is  an  adventure  in  under- 
standing, an  investment  in  happiness 
and  spiritual  growth. 

Recently  a  young  man  said  to  me, 
"I've  spent  several  thousand  dollars 
on  my  hobby,  but  I  think  it  is  money 
well  spent,  for  it  gives  me  an  oppor- 
tunity to  get  outdoors  and  preserve 
my  health."  Since  the  speaker  was 
a  young  man  with  a  salary  well  in  the 
upper  brackets,  he  could  afford  his 
(Concluded  on  following  page) 
OCTOBER  1955 


Please  accept 

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50c 


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To  get  yours,  send  50c  and 
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ENGINEERED      QUALITY     MAKES     THE      BIG     DIFFERENCE     IN      FOLDING     CHAIRS 


741 


LOW-COST  AUTO  INSURANCE 

You  can  travel   CHEAPER 

on  the  WATER  WAGON 

Here's  what  the  Christian  Herald  said  in  October:* 

"Here's  a  revolutionary  idea  in  automobile  casualty  insurance  that 
can  mean  a  substantial  saving  to  those  of  us  who  abstain  from  alco- 
holic beverage.  Because  of  it,  we  can— for  as  much  as  42  per  cent  less 
cost— have  the  best  and  fullest  insurance  coverage  available." 

The  Preferred  Risk  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  insuring  total 
abstainers  only,  was  founded  on  the  idea  that  the  non-drinking  driver 
shouldn't  have  to  pay  the  inflated  rates  caused  by  those  drivers  who 
drink— and  drinking  is  to  blame  in  23  out  of  100  fatal  accidents. 

If  you  can  qualify.  Preferred  Risk  may  save  you  25  per  cent  of 
your  auto  insurance  costs  at  once.  Additional  savings  come  with 
claim- free  driving.  They  don't  have  to  pay  drinking  losses  so  you  get 
the  savings.  No  wonder  Preferred  Risk  has  100,000  satisfied  policy- 
holders and  over  $2,500,000  in  assets.  Do  you  qualify?  Then  use  the 
coupon  below. 

*The  full  article  "You  can  Travel  Cheaper  on  the  Water  Wagon," 
Christian  Herald  October,  1954  is  available.  If  you  would 
like  a  complete  reprint  just  check  box  in  coupon. 


ACT  NOW- USE  THIS  COUPON 


Please  send  me  complete  information  about  your  auto  insurance  for  total  abstainers. 
I  understand  there  is  no  obligation. 


.State.. 


My  '  auto     insurance 
expires: 

Month 

Day 

Year 


Name 

Address 

City 

Occupation 

Age  of  Drivers   Male Female 

Make  of  Car Year No.   Cylinders 

Body  type   and   Model    (Series) 

Use  of  Car:    □  Pleasure     □  Business     □  To  and  from  work  miles  one  way. 

Marital  Status  of  Principal  Driver :  □  Married  with  children. 


tQrinfc- 


ACCIDENTS 


□   Single,  living  at  home       □   Single 


PREFERRED  RISK  MUTUAL 
INSURANCE  COMPANY 


Ray  Inc.  Bldg.,  Suite  102-103,   Dept.   1055,  336  So.  5th   East 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  Phone  EM  4-1931 


"America's  Total  Abstainers  Automobile  Insurance  Company"  —  Sam  Morris,  President 


Riches  at  Your  Feet 

(Concluded  from  preceding  page) 
expenditures.  But  for  millions  of 
modestly  paid  clerks  and  artisans,  his 
program  would  be  out  of  the  question. 
For  them  the  home  garden,  with  its 
rich  rewards  in  health,  wealth,  and 
general  well-being,  is  the  logical  solu- 
tion. 

In  your  own  garden  you  may  find 
security,  peace,  and  God. 


742 


Little  No-Name's  Grandson 

(Continued  from  page  706) 

He  saw  pictures  of  the  railroad  and 
the  streamliners  and  was  pleased 
that  he  was  right.  Little  Grandson 
would  learn  about  the  railroad.  Then 
he  said,  "I  will  leave  Little  Grandson 
here  at  the  school." 

Then  the  teacher  spoke.  "There 
is  not  room  in  the  school  for  this 
boy.  There  are  already  thirty-six 
children,  and  they  are  sleeping  two 
in  a  bed." 

The  old  man  sat  in  silence  a  long 
time,  and  the  teacher  spoke  again. 
"The  principal  phoned  me  not  to 
take  any  more  children.  We  already 
have  more  children  than  the  govern- 
ment has  given  money  for.  Some 
day  there  will  be  schools  for  all  the 
children." 

Then  the  old  man  and  the  boy 
went  out  and  got  into  their  wagon. 

On  the  way  back  it  began  to  hail, 
and  Little  Grandson  said,  "I  will 
drive  the  horses  for  you,  Grand- 
father." 

"That  is  good,"  said  the  old  man. 
"You  will  drive  the  horses,  and  I 
will  think  about  the  stumbling  block 
in  our  path." 

Then  he  hunched  over  in  deep  con- 
templation about  how  Little  Grand- 
son could  not  wait  ...  it  is  the 
white  people  who  are  getting  ahead 
with  the  Power-that-comes-from-the- 
Knowledge!  Little  Grandson  needed 
that  power.  He  could  see  his  people 
in  a  closed  circle,  like  a  corral  around 
them.  Little  Grandson  must  go  in 
a  straight  line,  he  concluded.  They 
must  look  two-ways — to  the  past  and 
to  the  future.  Then  he  spoke  with 
great  deliberation,  slowly  and  firmly. 

"Little  Grandson,  I  must  give  you 

to  a  white  man.     You  will  live  with 

him.     He  will   be  your  father.     He 

(Concluded  on  page  744) 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


JUST  TO  KEEP 


THE  TIME  OF  DAY 


.,« 


Just  to  keep  the  time  of  day,  the  early  pioneers  brought  the  parts 
of  First  National's  old  clock  to  Salt  Lake  valley  by  ox  cart. 


The  "old  clock"  at  First  South  and  Main  was  once  powered  by  wet  cell 
batteries,  and  it  is  now  powered  by  electricity.  It  continues  to.  keep 
accurate,  dependable  time  season  after  season. 


The  same  reliable  characteristics  are  found  in  the  bank  which  stands 
on  the  old  clock  corner.  Accurate,  friendly  service  and  sound 
management  have  become  a  tradition  at  First  National. 

It's  more  than  first .  .  .  it's  FIRST  JVA  TIONAL 


BANK  BY  MAIL 

First  National  pays  the 

postage  and  furnishes  the 

envelopes  for  both  savings 

and  checking  accounts. 


FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 


OF  SALT  LAKE  CITY 

i  \  v. 

1st  South  and  Main     •  \  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 
David  0.  McKay,  President    \  OrvalW.  Adams,  Exec.  Vice-Pres. 

1  his  is  the  place    ,  .\  .Jot your  money 

\ |  \  \\ 

MEMBER  FEDERAL  DEPOSIT  INSURANCE  CORPORATION    ?  MEMBER  FEDERAL  RESERVE 

\ 


OCTOBER  1955 


743 


« "beautiful  new  David  0.  McKay  Building  < 
Brigham  Young  University  was  built  with  bricl 
the  kilns  of  Utah  Fire  Clay  Company. 

Many  of  the  chapels  recently  completed  and  otht 
now  under  construction  were  buiit  or  are  being  bui 
with  Utah  Fire  Cfay  Company : iffi^fPsffiirasS 

BRICK  provides  lasting  beauty  and  dignity  along 
with  low  cost  of  construction  and  extremely  low  main- 
tenance. The  wide  variety  of  entrancing  colors  in  the 
face  brick  and   the  ever-increasing    use  of   Roman   and 

Norman     brick    offer    unequalled    versatility    and     un- 
matched beauty. 

Brick  is  truly  the  Aristocrat  of  all  Building  Materials. 

See  the  Craftsmen  in  Clay  .  .  . 


Ill 


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Little  No-Name's  Grandson 

(Concluded  from  page  742) 

will  give  you  the  power  of  the  Knowl- 
edge. He  will  put  you  on  the  Think- 
ing-road." 

Little  Grandson  noticed  a  water  in 
his  grandfather's  eye,  and  did  not  an- 
swer. Then,  as  they  were  passing  the 
White  Mesa  again,  he  whispered,  "All 
is  beauty." 

"All  is  beauty,"  the  old  man  said. 
He  felt  a  great  relief.  Little  Grand- 
son would  remember  him  by  his  right 
name.  Little  Grandson  would  know 
for  sure  that  Son-of-Former-Witch 
was  a  wrong  name. 


744 


A  Disgrace  to  the  Family 

(Continued  from  page  718) 

turned  her  head  and  went  quickly 
up  the  stairs  to  her  room.  David 
called  to  say  he  wouldn't  be  home  un- 
til late,  and  so  Norma  went  to  bed 
early  and  cried  herself  to  sleep. 

She  was  surprised  to  awake  next 
morning  with  a  feeling  of  peace.  She 
wondered  why,  and  then  suddenly  she 
knew.  She  could  still  meet  Gramps' 
honest  old  eyes  without  shame.  She 
lay  quite  still  listening  for  the  creak 
of  the  wheelbarrow.  Silence  greeted 
her.  Maybe  Gramps  had  hauled  all 
the  bricks  he  needed  last  evening. 

Wasn't  he  a  remarkable  old  man! 
She  must  get  up  and  see  that  he  had 
a  good  breakfast.  Maybe  he  was  al- 
ready working.  She  looked  out  the 
back  window,  but  there  was  no  sign 
of  Gramps.  She  went  down  the  hall 
and  knocked  gently  on  Gramps'  door, 
and  when  there  was  no  answer, 
opened  the  door  and  then  stood  there, 
her  heart  beating  in  kind  of  a  crazy 
frenzy. 

The  bed  hadn't  been  slept  in,  and 
Gramps'  brown  shopping  bag  was 
gone! 

"Gramps  is  gone!"  Norma  was 
shaking  David.  "His  bed  hasn't  been 
slept  in." 

"He  can't  be  far."  David  sounded 
anxious,  too.  "Maybe  he  took  a  no- 
tion to  sleep  outdoors." 

"Stop  talking,  David,  and  do  some- 
thing!   Maybe  Minnie  knows." 

Minnie  knew.  She  calmly  squeezed 
oranges  and  said,  "I  told  the  old  man 
off  good  and  plenty  last  night  after 

(Concluded  on  page  746) 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


EAST  ENSIGN  WARD 


Architect :  T.  R.  Pope 
Mason-Contractor  :  Therace  H.  Duncan 
Supervisor  :  Arthur  Allen 


Exposed  Buehner  Block  interior  walls  are  "high  style"  in  interior  decor,  not  only  in  fine  homes,  but  in  schools 
and  churches  as  well.  These  block  walls  are  not  only  attractive  in  appearance,  but  they  help  stretch 
the  building  dollar,  saving  both  on  initial  cost;  and  interior  finishing  costs.  These  Buehner  Block 
walls  are  easy  to  keep  up,  and  they  have  important  sound-absorbing  values — an  especially  important 
consideration  in  recreation  halls,  corridors,  and  classrooms. 

Outside,  it's  Buehner  Block,  too  —  the  same  attractive  four-inch-high  units  are  used  for  the  exterior  walls 
and  retaining  walls.  These  block  walls  have  a  contemporary  look,  they're  economical,  and  easy  to 
maintain  —  perfect  choice  for  today's   schools  and  churches. 


Inside  and  out . . .  it's 


OCTOBER  1955 


autoclave-cured 


Buehner  Block 


745 


A  DISGRACE  TO  THE  EAMILY 


(Concluded  from  page  744) 
you'd  gone  to  bed,  Mrs.  Sawyer.  How 
he'd  come  here,  a  disgrace  to  the  fam- 
ily, and  ruined  the  doctor's  chances, 
and—" 

"Minnie,  you  didn't!"  David's 
words  were  an  agonized  gasp.  "Why, 
I  owe  everything  to  Gramps!" 

Minnie  looked  at  Norma  with  genu- 
ine surprise.  "Wasn't  that  the  way 
Mrs.  Sawyer  felt  about  him?" 

"I  was  temporarily  insane!"  Norma 
cried.  "I  had  my  sense  of  values  all 
tangled.  But  I  was  wrong,  Minnie! 
Putting  on  a  big  show  isn't  the  way 
for  David  to  build  a  good  practice." 

She  collapsed,  weeping  in  David's 
arms.  "I  wouldn't  give  one  hair  of 
Gramps'  head  for  a  hundred  stuffed 
shirts,  and  now  he's  gone,  and  it's  all 
my  fault!  Call  the  police,  David. 
We've  got  to  find  Gramps  so  I  can  tell 
him  how  much  I  love  him!" 

"No  call  to  go  botherin'  the  law." 

At  the  sound  of  Gramps'  voice 
Norma  turned  to  see  the  old  man 
standing    in    the    kitchen    doorway, 


shopping  bag  in  hand.  \  "I  come  back. 
I  ain't  never  run  away  from  a  prob- 
lem before,  and  I'm  too  danged  old 
to  learn  now." 

"Oh,  Gramps!"  Norma's  arms  went 
around  his  neck.  "We  love  you,  and 
we're  proud  of  you.    We — " 

"I  know.  I  heered  what  you  said." 
Gramps  patted  her  shoulder.  "But 
maybe  Minnie's  right.  I  disgraced 
David.     I  got  to  apologize — " 

David  said,  "If  they're  snobs,  I 
don't  want  them  for  patients." 

The  telephone  rang,  and  Minnie 
answered  it.  "It's  for  you,  Mrs. 
Sawyer.     It's  Mrs.  Schuyler  Payne." 

"One  word  against  Gramps,  and 
I'll — "  Norma  took  the  receiver. 
"Hello!" 

"My  dear,"  Mrs.  Payne's  voice 
came  pleasantly  over  the  wire. 
"Thank  you  for  inviting  me  to  that 
delightful  party.  Your  Miss  Pres- 
cott  was  such  an  interesting  person, 
but  it  was  Gramps — "  her  voice  was  a 
delighted  chuckle;  "he's  the  most  re- 
freshing personality  I  have  ever  met." 


"Why — why,  thank  you,  Mrs. 
Payne." 

"And  Mrs.  Sawyer,  would  you 
please  ask  the  doctor  to  stop  by  and 
see  Father  this  morning?  His  stomach 
is  bothering  him  again."  Mrs.  Payne 
lowered  her  voice.  "Frankly,  I  don't 
think  there's  a  thing  wrong  with  him 
but  boredom!  I  do  wish  Gramps 
could  get  Father  interested  in  building 
an  outdoor  fireplace!" 

"Perhaps  he  could.     Maybe — " 

"Really,  he  is  the  most  remarkable 
old  man.  I  know  that  just  meeting 
him  would  pep  Father  up.  Do  you 
suppose  it  could  be  arranged?" 

"I'm  sure  it  can,  Mrs.  Payne. 
Thank  you  for  calling.     Good-bye." 

Norma  turned  and  looked  at 
Gramps  standing  there  in  the  blue- 
striped  shirt  and  the  black  trousers. 
"That  was  Mrs.  Payne,  Gramps.  It 
seems  that  all  the  women  at  the  party 
fell  madly  in  love  with  you,  and 
Mrs.  Payne  wants  to  know  if  you  will 
please  show  her  father  how  to  build 
a  fireplace." 


CONFERENCE  VISITORS: 
HAVE  YOUR  EYES 
CHECKED  at 
STANDARD  OPTICAL 

NO  DELAY  .  .  .  YOUR  GLASSES  WILL  BE 
READY  BEFORE  YOU  RETURN  HOME.  It 
takes  just  a  short  while  to  have  your  eyes 
completely  examined  by  the  registered  op- 
tometrists at  Standard  Optical  Company. 
Your  eyes  are  a  priceless  possession,  take 
this  opportunity  to  make  sure  they  receive 
the  expert  care  so  necssary  for  continued 
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THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Timeless  Principles 

(Continued  from  page  710) 
tween  sound  psychological  principles 
and  divine  justice: 

"Let  your  laws,  penalties  and  re- 
wards be  founded  upon  the  principles 
of  justice  and  mercy,  and  adapted  to 
the  capacities  of  your  children;  for 
this  is  the  way  that  our  heavenly 
Father  governs  his  children,  giving  to 
some  a  celestial,  to  others  a  terrestrial, 
and  to  others  still  a  telestial  law, 
with  penalties  and  promises  annexed 
according  to  the  conditions,  circum- 
stances, and  capacities  of  the  individu- 
als to  be  governed.  Seek  for  wisdom 
and  pattern  after  the  heavenly  order 
of  government."  (Ibid.,  1:456.) 

Some  time  ago,  a  well-known  pro- 
fessor of  sociology  at  a  large  eastern 
university  asked  me  how  I  accounted 
for  the  relatively  high  degree  of  fam- 
ily stability  among  the  Latter-day 
Saint  people.  The  explanation  that 
followed  was  given,  I'm  afraid,  with 
too  little  introduction  or  background 
and  perhaps  went  a  little  too  fast.  He 
seemed  greatly  interested,  however, 
and  particularly  so  in  the  concept  of 
patriarchal  authority.  Here  was  a 
term  he  knew — one  familiar  to  all 
sociologists.  He  soon  discovered,  to 
his  surprise,  that  the  Latter-day  Saint 
concept  of  patriarchal  authority  did 
not  correspond  to  that  with  which  he 
was  familiar.  His  included  strict  and 
stern  control  of  the  family  activities 
and  interests  by  the  father.  The  love 
and  companionship  aspects  were  mini- 
mized, and  the  dictatorial  powers  of 
the  father  approached  the  absolute. 
This  type  of  patriarchal  authority  was 
very  common  among  American  fam- 
ilies a  century  ago  and  has  been 
common  for  hundreds  of  years  in  the 
various  cultures  of  the  world.  The 
contrast  between  the  type  of  patri- 
archal authority  known  by  this  pro- 
fessor and  that  of  which  Elder  Pratt 
wrote,  seems  rather  singular. 

"Do  not  be  so  stern  and  rigid  in 
your  family  government  as  to  render 
yourself  an  object  of  fear  and  dread. 
There  are  parents  who  only  render 
themselves  conspicuous  in  the  attri- 
bute of  justice  while  mercy  and  love 
are  scarcely  known  in  their  families. 
Justice  should  be  tempered  with 
mercy,  and  love  should  be  the  great 
moving  principle  interweaving  itself 
in  all  your  family  administrations.  .  .  . 
Obedience  inspired  by  love,  and  obe- 
dience inspired  by  fear  are  entirely 
different  in  their  nature.  The  former 

(Concluded  on  following  page) 
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Timeless  Principles 

(Concluded  from  preceding  page) 
will  be  permanent  and  enduring  while 
the  latter  only  waits  to  have  the  object 
of  fear  removed,  and  it  vanishes  like  a 
dream.  Govern  children  as  parents 
and  not  as  tyrants;  for  they  will  be 
parents  in  their  turn  and  will  be 
very  likely  to  adopt  that  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  which  they  have  been  edu- 
cated." (Ibid.,  1:456.) 

Patriarchal  authority  in  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  in  the  Latter-day 
Saint  home  is,  indeed,  characterized 
by  love,  encouragement,  and  leader- 
ship rather  than  by  absolute  and  dic- 
tatorial power  exercised  by  the  father. 
Ours  is  a  principle  of  divine  theocracy. 
The  priesthood  of  God  is  vested  in 
the  father  or  husband,  and  his  re- 
sponsibility, almost  always  willingly 
assumed,  is  to  preside  over  family  mat- 
ters, to  inspire,  encourage,  and  lead 
the  members  of  his  family  by  example 
and  discussion. 

The  place  of  women  and  wives  in 
our  religion  and  philosophy  of  life 
in  no  sense  suggests  an  inferior  sta- 
tion. The  wife  shares  the  responsi- 
bility and  leadership  of  the  family 
with  her  husband;  however,  her  func- 
tions are  defined  differently.  Elder 
Pratt,  for  example,  refers  repeatedly 
to  the  all-important  relationship  be- 
tween the  mother  and  her  children  in 
rearing  them  to  be  worthy  sons  and 
daughters  in  Zion. 

The  very  practical  teachings  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints  are  strikingly  apparent  in 
the  marriage  and  family  relationships 
area.  Because  of  the  place  of  im- 
portance the  family  holds  in  our  gos- 
pel plan,  it  seems  highly  plausible  that 
after  another  hundred  years  have 
passed,  people  will  still  be  asking  how 
we  account  for  the  success  we  enjoy 
in  family  life. 


748 


SIGNAL  FIRES 

By  Elizabeth  A.  Hutchison 

{\n  the  hillside,  up  the  canyon, 

Down  along  the  shining  stream, 
Fires  are  mounting  toward  the  heavens; 
Through  autumn  haze  they  brightly  gleam. 
Maples  flash  their  brilliant  scarlet, 
Aspens  burst  in  flames  of  gold, 
Warning  torch  of  sumac  quivers, 
Woodbine  blazes,  uncontrolled. 

Do  spirits  of  the  vanquished  red  men 

Boldly  light  these  signal  fires, 

That  phantom  warriors  here  may  council 

In  the  light  of  grassy  pyres? 

Phantom  voices  make  no  moan, 

But,  oh,  what  strife  these  hills  have  known! 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Solomon  Mack  and  His  Family 

(Continued  from  page  714) 
hills.  The  Ashuelot  River  passes 
through  the  town,  with  a  fall  of  three 
hundred  feet  in  its  passage,  providing 
excellent  water  privileges.  Solomon 
Mack  and  his  brother  Elisha  Mack 
were  quick  to  avail  themselves  of 
these  opportunities. 

On  March  24,  1773  "Solomon  Mack 
of  Marlow"  sold  50  acres  in  the 
town  of  Marlow  "where  the  labour 
is  done."  On  November  3,  1774 
"Elisha  Mack  of  Marlow"  sold  50 
acres  there.17  It  was  probably  in  1773 
that  Solomon  Mack  built  a  log  house 
in  the  lot  he  had  chosen  in  Gilsum. 
Its  location  is  given  in  the  following 
quotation: 

From  Main  street  south,  the  road  follows 
the  course  of  the  Ashuelot  river  past  the 
mill  of  the  Gilsum  Woolen  Manufacturing 
company  and  the  saw  and  grist-mill  of  S.  W. 
Dart,  to  the  stone  bridge.  On  the  right, 
high  on  the  hill  and  beautifully  situated 
and  laid  out  is  the  Centennial  cemetery. 
It  is  now  the  chief  resting-place  of  the  dead 
in  town.  A  few  rods  from  this  cemetery  is 
a  spot  sacred  to  the  Mormon  church.  In 
1775,  here  was  born  the  mother  of  Hiram 
[Hyrum]  and  Joseph '  Smith,  two  of  the 
greatest  leaders  of  the  Mormon  church, 
who  sealed  their  faith  with  their  blood,  both 
being  killed  by  a  mob  at  Carthage,  III.,  in 
1844.™ 

In  those  early  times,  the  first  dwell- 
ings were  built  of  logs.  Skilled  ax- 
men  of  that  day  were  adept  at  hew- 
ing the  timbers  for  the  frames  of  the 
houses,  but  sawmills  were  necessary 
to  prepare  boards, 
made  by  hand. 


Shingles 


were 


The  natural  features  of  the  town  made 
Gilsum  especially  adapted  for  manufactur- 
ing purposes.  .  .  .  Hence  it  happens  that 
the  whole  life  of  the  community  has  de- 
pended on  its  ability  to  manufacture. 

The  first  generation  of  the  Mack  family 
in  Gilsum,  whose  descendants  were  later  to 
play  so  important  a  part  in  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  were  the 
first  settlers  to  make  use  of  these  natural 
features  in  industrial  enterprise.  .  .  .  The 
first  boards  sawed  in  the  town  of  Gilsum 
were  taken  from  the  sawmill  of  Elisha 
Mack  who  was  uncle  of  Solomon  (Jr.)  and 
Lucy  Mack.  He  built  this  sawmill  in  1776 
and  he  sold  it  to  his  brother-in-law,  Abishai 
Tubbs  of  Marlow,   in  1784.   .  .  . 

After  having  set  up  the  necessary  estab- 
lishments for  the  getting  out  of  lumber  it 
was  natural  that  these  early  people  build 
gristmills  to  grind  their  grains.  .  .  .  The 
first  gristmill  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  town  was  erected  by  Elisha  Mack  and 

(Continued  on  following  page) 

^Cheshire  Co.,  N.  H.  Deeds,  Vol.  2,  p.  301;  Vol. 
4,    p.    331. 

:>Dr.    I.    A.    Loveland:  "Gilsum,"    in    The    Granite 

Monthly,    1897,   Vol.  .22,  p.   289. 

OCTOBER  1955 


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Solomon  Mack  and  His  Family 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
his  brother  Solomon,  connecting  with  the 
sawmill  of  Elisha.  It  was  built  at  the  same 
time  that  the  sawmill  was  set  up  in  1776 
and  was  operated  on  a  partnership  basis.  .  .  . 
History  tells  us  that  this  soon  became  a 
place  of  great  resort,  the  people  coming 
from  the  surrounding  towns  and  often 
bringing  their  grists  upon  hand  sleds  or  on 
their  backs.  This  gristmill  was  operated 
for  seventy-five  years.39 

It  was  here  amid  these  busy  pio- 
neering activities  that  Lucy  Mack, 
mother  of  the  Prophet,  was  born.  Her 
birth  record,  as  it  was  recorded  at  the 
time  by  the  town  clerk,  reads: 

Lucy,  fourth  daughter  of  Solomon  Mack 
&  Lydia  his  wife,  was  born  July  8,   1775.40 

She  was  thus  the  eighth  and  young- 
est child  in  her  parents'  family. 
Since  the  Revolutionary  War  was 
upon  them,  she  was  not  destined  to 
see  much  of  her  father  during  her 
earlier  years. 

On  April  19,  1775  the  battles  of 
Lexington  and  Concord  had  been 
fought.  The  news  of  these  encounters 
started  thousands  of  New  England 
volunteers  on  the  way  to  Boston. 
John  Stark  led  the  New  Hampshire 
men;  Israel  Putnam  left  his  plow  in 
the  furrow  to  lead  the  volunteers 
from  Connecticut.  Silas  Mack,  a 
cousin  of  Solomon,  was  town  clerk 
and  local  magistrate  in  Marlow.  He 
left  his  sawmill  and  was  present  at  the 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  on  June  17.  In 
June,  Washington  was  appointed 
commander-in-chief.  There  was  im- 
mediate need  for  ammunition  and 
the  materials  from  which  to  make  it. 
On  July  15,  1775,  seven  days  after 
the  birth  of  Lucy  Mack,  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  adopted  a  resolution 
granting  special  trading  privileges  to 
"every  vessel  importing  Gun  powder, 
Salt  petre,  Sulphur,  provided  they 
bring  with  the  sulphur  four  times  as 
much  salt  petre,"  etc.  Solomon  Mack 
hastened  to  assist  in  meeting  this  ur- 
gent need.    He  wrote: 

Soon  after  I  went  to  Moudus  and  learnt 
of  my  brother-in-law  how  to  make  Salt- 
Peire;  though  being  a  cripple  I  went  to  Old 
Springfield  and  Long  Meadows,  to  show 
them  the  art  of  making  Salt-Petre.  I  was 
sent  from  town  to  town,  my  wages  was  one 
dollar  per  day;  this  was  in  our  revolutionary 
war.  I  then  enlisted  into  the  American 
army.      I    soon    mustered    two    teams    and 


750 


3sCharles  James  Fraser:  "History  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints  in  Gilsum,  New  Hampshire,"  in  The  Utah 
Genealogical  and  Historical  Magazine,  July  1934,  Vol. 
25,    pp.    108-109. 

i0Giisum   Town    Records,    Vol.    1,    1752-1825,    p.  457. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


carried  baggage  to  Skeenesborough.  I  after- 
wards enlisted  into  a  company  of  artillery 
for  a  short  Campaign;  but  on  my  return 
home  I  was  taken  sick. 

As  soon  as  I  recovered  I  went  to  see  my 
son;  he  was  cutting  trees,  when  unfortu- 
nately a  tree  fell  on  me  and  crushed  me  al- 
most to  pieces;  beat  the  breath  out  of  my 
body,  my  son  took  me  up  for  dead,  I  how- 
ever soon  recovered,  but  have  not  to  this 
day  recovered  the  use  of  my  limbs,  which 
was  34  years  ago.  [Written  about  1811,  so 
the  accident  must  have  occurred  in  1777.] 
I  lay  sixty  days  on  my  back  and  never  moved 
or  turned  to  one  side  or  the  other,  the  skin 
was  worn  off  my  back  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  I  was  taken  by  six  men  in  a  sheet 
and  moved,  from  time  to  time,  for  sixty  or 
seventy  days  more;  when  I  was  able  to  walk 
by  the  help  of  crutches. 

I  had  a  man  to  work  in  a  sawmill,  it 
got  out  of  order,  I  hobbled  down  to  show 
him  how  to  mend  it,  and  by  accident  I  fell 
on  the  water-wheel,  and  bruised  me  most 
horribly.  I  was  indeed  helpless,  &  in  dread- 
ful pain;  confined  month  after  month,  un- 
able to  help  myself,  but  at  last  I  was  re- 
stored to  health;  but  being  destitute  of 
property,  and  without  my  natural  strength 
to  get  my  bread,  with  a  young  and  de- 
pendent family  whose  daily  wants  were 
increasing,  and  none  to  administer  relief.  .  .  . 

Owing  to  my  misfortune  I  could  not 
attend  to  my  contract  at  Granville,  so  I 
lost  all  my  land;  however  I  regained  my 
strength  so  I  could  walk  a  little  and  ride 
side-ways.  Soon  after  this  I  was  wounded 
by  a  limb  falling  from  a  tree  upon  my 
head,  which  again  nearly  deprived  me  of 
life.  I  was  carried  in  wholly  unable  to  help 
myself.  I,  however,  recovered  again;  I  can 
say  like  this,  "the  time  of  my  departure 
was  not  yet  come,  and  there  was  yet  more 
trouble  for  me  to  pass  through."41 

While  Solomon  was  incapacitated 
by  these  afflictions,  his  brother  Elisha 
Mack  was  engaged  in  active  service. 
In  July  1776  he  served  as  a  private; 
in  June  1777  he  was  captain  in  a  com- 
pany that  marched  for  the  relief  of 
Ticonderoga.  It  fell,  and  he  served 
next  in  the  troops  under  General 
John  Stark.  Burgoyne's  army  was 
penetrating  New  York  by  way  of  Lake 
Champlain,  and  Ticonderoga  and  one 
fort  after  another  had  fallen  into  his 
hands.  He  heard  there  were  large 
quantities  of  stores  collected  at  Ben- 
nington and  sent  Hessian  troops  to 
capture  them.  On  this  news  it  was 
feared  that  General  Burgoyne  would 
invade  the  eastern  states  with  an  ir- 
resistible force  of  regular  troops  and 
savages.  "The  New  Hampshire  militia 
had  rallied  under  the  command  of 
that  famous  veteran  of  the  old  French 
and  Indian  war,  John  Stark."  By 
his  orders  the  men  assembled  at  Ben- 
nington. They  were  mostly  in  hunt- 
ing frocks  without  uniforms  but  were 
expert  marksmen. 

(To  be  continued) 

41A   Narrative   of  Solomon  Mack,   pp.    10-12. 

OCTOBER  1955 


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the  most  dramatic  sight-seeing 
ever  developed  .  striking  advances 
in  comfort  .  unique  "inside  extras" 


Complete  Washroom! 

With  wash  basin, 
running  water,  mirror, 
toilet  —  in  sparkling 
stainless  steel! 


751 


Elders  Quorums— Continued 


Introductory  Statement 

This  article  is  a  continuation  of 
the  one  which  appeared  under  the 
same  title  in  the  previous  issue  of 
The  Improvement  Era.  (September, 
1955.)  It  is  suggested  that  the  two 
articles  be  used  in  conjunction  with 
each  other  as  an  aid  to  those  in  posi- 
tions of  leadership  in  their  assign- 
ment of  directing  activities  of  the 
elders  throughout  the  stakes  of  Zion. 

Sixth — Elders  Quorum  Presidencies  to 
Foster  and  Encourage  Missionary 
Work 

a.  Stake  Missionary  Work 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  should 
encourage  the  quorum  members  to 
prepare  themselves  and  make  them- 
selves available  for  stake  missionary 
work.  Such  should  be  one  of  the 
principal  goals  of  all  quorums  of 
elders  throughout  the  Church.  Also, 
quorum  presidencies  could,  with  pro- 
priety, suggest  to  the  stake  presiden- 
cies that  certain  of  their  quorum 
members  are  capable  and  ready  to 
render  missionary  service;  but  their 
rights  end  with  that  of  making  recom- 
mendations. Quorum  presidencies 
should  remember  at  all  times  that  it 
is  the  prerogative  of  the  stake  presi- 
dencies to  issue  all  the  missionary 
calls. 

b.  Foreign  Missionary  Work 
Since  a  vast  majority  of  the  foreign 

missionaries  come  from  the  elders 
quorums,  one  of  the  major  assign- 
ments of  every  elders  quorum  presi- 
dency throughout  the  Church  is  to 
direct  each  quorum  member  in  his 
preparation  for  foreign  missionary 
service  and  to  encourage  him  to  ac- 
cept the  missionary  call  when  it 
comes.  Also,  quorum  presidencies 
should  direct  the  providing  of  quorum 
missionary  funds  to  assist  needy  mis- 
sionaries to  sustain  themselves  in  the 
foreign  fields.  Thus,  the  elders  quo- 
rum presidencies  constitute  the  direct- 
ing force  in  the  quorum  in  fostering 
and  encouraging  the  missionary  pro- 
gram. 

752 


Seventh — Presidencies  to  Promote 
Temple  Work 

a.  To  Encourage  All  Quorum  Mem- 
bers to  Become  Worthy 

A  major  responsibility  of  elders 
quorum  presidencies  is  to  direct  the 
teaching  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  quorum  members,  thereby  prepar- 
ing them  to  become  worthy  to  go  to 
the  temple.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
the  members  of  the  presidencies  be 
the  class  instructors,  but  they  are  to 
select  the  most  capable  persons  avail- 
able to  be  the  teachers.  Quorum 
presidencies  should  understand  defi- 
nitely the  requirements  for  entrance 
mto  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  also 
the  great  blessings  which  come  to 
those  who  take  out  their  endowments 
and  enter  into  the  order  of  celestial 
marriage.  They  should  realize  that 
the  blessings  of  the  temple  will  be  at- 
tained only  by  the  righteous  Saints 
who  remain  faithful  to  the  end,  and 
they  should  instruct  the  elders  in 
their  quorums  to  this  effect. 

b.  To  Encourage  All  Quorum 
Members  to  Get  Their  Own  Endow- 
ments 

It  is  the  duty  of  elders  quorum 
presidencies  to  know  which  quorum 
members  have  and  which  have  not 
their  endowments,  and  then  they 
should  encourage  all  of  them  who 
have  not  had  their  endowments  to 
do  their  own  work  while  the  oppor- 
tunity is  available.  In  other  words, 
each  holder  of  the  priesthood  should 
"work  while  the  day  lasts  because 
the  night  cometh  where  no  man  can 
work." 

c.  To  Have  Their  Families  Sealed 
Elders  quorum  presidencies  should 

encourage  their  quorum  members  to 
have  their  families  sealed  back 
through  the  proper  lines.  This  is 
also  a  vital  assignment  and  should  be 
pursued  diligently. 

d.  To  Trace  Their  Own  Ancestry 
Sealing  work   through   the   proper 

lines  cannot  be  accomplished  unless 
genealogical  work  is  done  in  tracing 
the  ancestry,  thereby  providing  fam- 
ily records  for  temple  work  purposes; 


and  so  it  is  the  duty  of  the  elders 
quorum  presidencies  to  encourage  all 
members  to  engage  faithfully  in  this 
marvelous  work. 

e.  To  Do  Vicarious  Work  for  the 
Dead 

It  is  the  duty  of  all  Melchizedek 
Priesthood  holders  to  engage  actively 
in  vicarious  work  for  the  dead,  and 
so  the  responsibility  naturally  rests 
upon  elders  quorum  presidencies  to 
encourage  all  quorum  members  to  en- 
gage in  this  great  work.  The  first 
interest  of  each  individual  is  to  trace 
his  own  ancestry  and  do  the  work  on 
his  own  line,  and  when  this  is  ac- 
complished he  may  work  on  other 
family  lines. 

f.  To  Promote  Temple  Excursions 
It  is  suggested  that  elders  quorum 

presidencies  promote  temple  excur- 
sions among  quorum  members  and 
their  wives.  These  excursions  should 
be  carried  on  as  often  as  possible.  It 
is  advisable  in  cases  where  elders  live 
close  enough  to  temples  to  make  such 
a  program  feasible  that  certain  regu- 
lar dates  be  set  aside  for  these  excur- 
sions and  that  elders  presidencies 
carry  this  program  forward  vigorously; 
however,  because  of  expansive  dis- 
tances from  temples,  certain  elders 
quorums  will  not  be  able  to  carry 
forward  such  a  program  on  a  sys- 
tematically organized  plan.  Never- 
theless, quorum  presidencies  are  en- 
couraged to  do  all  they  can  to  direct 
their  quorum  members  in  carrying 
forward  this  great  work. 

Eighth — Presidencies  to  Promote  Quo- 
rum Socials 

According  to  instructions  given  in 
the  Melchizedek  Priesthood  Hand- 
book, each  Melchizedek  Priesthood 
quorum  should  hold  at  least  one  good 
social  every  two  months.  The  re- 
sponsibility for  these  socials  rests  upon 
the  elders  quorum  presidencies.  It  is 
suggested  that  they  select  and  ap- 
point sufficient  committees  to  carry 
forward  the  major  portion  of  this 
program.  Their  special  work  will  be 
directing  the  committees.  It  is  sug- 
gested that  in  order  to  maintain  the 
interest  of  the  quorum  members  that 
the  socials  be  varied  in  nature.  These 
socials  provide  the  elders  quorum 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Priesthood 


presidencies  excellent  opportunities  to 
become  better  informed  regarding  the 
capabilities,  interests,  and  personali- 
ties of  each  of  the  quorum  members. 
It  also  provides  them  opportunity  to 
encourage  and  stimulate  the  less  ac- 
tive quorum  members  to  increase  their 
church  activities  and  to  affiliate  them- 
selves in  quorum  meetings  with  their 
priesthood  groups.  Efforts  should  be 
made  to  make  each  elders  quorum  a 
grand  and  vital  fraternity  wherein 
each  of  the  quorum  members  and 
their  families  learn  to  love  and  ap- 
preciate the  Church  and  all  the  quo- 
rum members. 

Ninth — Presidencies  to  Direct  the 
Correspondence  with  Absent  Mem- 
bers 

a.  With  Servicemen 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  are  un- 
der instruction  to  correspond  at  least 
monthly  with  all  servicemen  from 
their  quorums  or  to  have  their  ap- 
pointees write  letters  to  them.  Also, 
through  the  quorums,  they  are  to  pro- 
vide their  quorum  members  in  the 
armed  services  with  subscriptions  to 
the  "Church  Section"  of  the  Deseret 
News  and  The  Improvement  Era. 
Gospel  tracts  could  also  be  included 
in  these  letters.  These  tracts  may  be 
obtained  from  the  stake  mission  presi- 
dent. 

b.  With  Members  on  Missions, 
Away  at  School,  or  at  Work 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  also 
have  the  responsibility  of  directing 
the  correspondence  each  month  with 
members  of  their  quorum  who  are 
filling  foreign  missions  or  who  are 
away  at  school  or  at  work.  The  writ- 
ing of  these  letters  constitutes  a  good 
project  to  be  assigned  to  various  mem- 
bers of  the  elders  quorum.  Also,  the 
replies  from  servicemen,  from  quorum 
members  away  at  school  or  away  at 
work,  could  with  profit  be  read  from 
time  to  time  in  the  elders  quorum 
monthly  business  meeting. 

Tenth — Presidencies  to  Provide  Good 
Classwork 

a.  Provide  Good  Teachers 

Elders    quorum    presidencies    have 

the  definite  assignment  of  providing 

OCTOBER  1955 


capable,  faithful,  and  intelligent 
teachers  to  be  the  instructors  in  the 
priesthood  doctrinal  classes.  Since 
the  principal  purpose  of  holding  the 
groups  or  quorum  weekly  doctrinal 
classes  is  to  teach  the  priesthood 
holders  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  it 
is  very  important  that  the  most  ca- 
pable teachers  in  the  various  elders 
quorums  throughout  the  Church  be 
assigned  to  that  position. 

b.  To  See  that  Correct  Doctrine  Is 
Taught 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  have 
the  definite  responsibility  of  seeing 
that  correct  doctrine  is  taught  in  the 
elders  Melchizedek  Priesthood- classes. 
Thus,  elders  presidencies  should  be 
students  of  the  gospel  and  be  able  to 
recognize  readily  when  false  doctrine 
is  being  taught. 

c.  Strive  to  Have  all  Quorum  Mem- 
bers in  Attendance 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  should 
make  an  exerted  effort  to  build  up 
the  attendance  at  the  weekly  doctrinal 
classes  and  monthly  quorum  business 
meetings  to  one  hundred  percent  at- 
tendance. Every  honorable  means 
possible  should  be  devised  to  induce 
the  less  active  members  to  attend 
these  meetings  and  to  encourage  the 
active  members  to  be  in  attendance 
regularly  and  continuously.  As  long 
as  there  is  one  quorum  member  who 
refuses  to  attend  these  classes,  the 
quorum  presidency  should  devote 
every  intelligent  effort  possible  to  per- 
suade him  to  attend  and  to  affiliate 
fully  with  the  priesthood  quorum. 

Eleventh — Presidencies  to  Teach  all 
Quorum  Members  how  to  Perform 
all  Church  ordinances 
It  is  the  duty  of  elders  quorum 
presidencies  to  teach  all  quorum  mem- 
bers how  to  perform  all  Church 
ordinances;  and  so  it  is  suggested 
that  as  often  as  possible  quorum 
presidencies  give  the  members  in- 
structions on  performing  such  ordi- 
nances as  that  of  baptism,  confirma- 
tion, administering  to  the  sacrament, 
anointing  and  "blessing  the  sick,  and 
other  similar  ordinances.  When  new 
members  receive  the  Melchizedek 
Priesthood  and  come  into  the  quorum, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  elders  quorum 
presidency    to    see    that    those    new 


members  understand  the  church  pro- 
cedure in  regard  to  performing 
church  ordinances. 

Twelfth — Presidencies  to  Hold  a 
Presidency  Council  Meeting  Once 
Each  Week 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  are 
once  again  asked  to  hold  a  presidency 
council  meeting  at  least  once  each 
week.  The  importance  of  these 
council  meetings  cannot  be  over- 
emphasized. (See  the  April,  1954, 
issue  of  The  Improvement  Era,  pp. 
266-267.) 

Thirteenth — Presidencies  to  Direct  the 
Holding  of  Weekly  Group  or  Quo- 
rum Meetings 

The  General  Authorities  of  the 
Church  provide  from  year  to  year 
courses  of  study  for  the  Melchizedek 
Priesthood  members  of  the  Church. 
The  responsibility  rests  upon  the 
elders  quorum  presidencies  to  see 
that  each  elders  group  or  elders  quo- 
rum under  their  direction,  holds  group 
or  quorum  meetings  once  each  week 
and  that  the  prescribed  course  of 
study  be  diligently  pursued  in  that 
weekly  meeting.  No  group  or  quo- 
rum is  authorized  to  select  its  own 
course  of  study. 

Fourteenth — Presidencies  to  Hold  and 
Direct  Monthly  Business  Meetings 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  have 
the  definite  responsibility  of  not  only 
holding  the  monthly  quorum  business 
meeting,  but  also  of  providing  the 
business,  the  program,  and  directing 
all  activities  pertaining  to  that  meet- 
ing. The  success  of  that  meeting 
will  be  determined  by  the  efficiency 
of  the  quorum  presidency  in  en- 
couraging a  hundred  percent  attend- 
ance and  its  ability  to  put  over  the 
program  effectively. 

Fifteent  h — Presidencies  to  Attend 
Stake  Priesthood  and  Priesthood 
Leadership  Meetings 

The  presidencies  of  all  elders  quo- 
rums  throughout   the  entire  Church 

(Continued  on  page  766) 
753 


The  Presiding 


Relationship  Between  Stake  Aaronic 
Priesthood  Committee  and  Bishoprics 


We  are  often  asked  the  question, 
"How  much  authority  does  the  stake 
Aaronic  Priesthood  committee  have  in 
supervising  the  Aaronic  Priesthood  pro- 
gram in  the  wards?" 

All  members  of  the  stake  Aaronic 
Priesthood  committee  are  appointed  by 
the  stake  presidency  with  full  authority 
to  represent  them  in  the  promotion  of 
the  Aaronic  Priesthood  program  in  the 
stake.  As  representatives  of  the  stake 
presidency,  therefore,  members  of  the 
stake  committee  have  authority  to  go 
into  a  ward  and  observe  conditions, 
make  recommendations  to  bishoprics  and 
other  Aaronic  Priesthood  leaders,  and  to. 
follow  up  on  such  recommendations  and 
all  previous  recommendations  until 
favorable  action  has  been  taken  there- 
on. 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  bishop  as  the  presidency  of 
the  Aaronic  Priesthood  is  abrogated  in 
any  way.  The  bishop  remains  as  the 
president  of  the  Aaronic  Priesthood  and 
as  the  president  of  the  priests  quorum, 
and  the  bishopric  remain  as  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Aaronic  Priesthood.  Their 
authority  in  these  official  capacities  is 
unquestionable.  However,  all  members 
of  the  bishopric  are  presided  over  by 
the  stake  presidency  who  call  to  their 
assistance  the  members  of  the  stake 
Aaronic  Priesthood  committee,  in  this 
instance,  and  send  them  forth  in  the 
wards  of  the  stake  with  full  authority  to 
represent  them  in  the  promotion  of  this 
work. 


The  relationship  between  members  of 
the  stake  committee  and  bishoprics  has 
been  developed  on  such  a  high  plane, 
in  many  areas,  that  bishoprics  have  no 
hesitancy  in  calling  members  of  the 
stake  committee  to  come  and  assist  them 
and  their  leaders  when  they  feel  they 
cannot  wait  for  the  regular  visits  of  the 
committee.  In  every  stake  doing  effec- 
tive work  in  Aaronic  Priesthood,  there 
is  abundant  evidence  of  harmony,  good 
will,  and  full  fellowship  between  mem- 
bers of  the  stake  committee  and  bishop- 
rics. They  work  together,  plan  together, 
pull  together  all  the  way. 

Therefore,  when  members  of  the  stake 
committee  for  Aaronic  Priesthood  under 
twenty-one  visit  a  ward,  they  are  sent 
by  appointment  of  the  stake  presidency 
with  full  authority  to  observe  condi- 
tions, point  up  weaknesses,  and  make 
recommendations  to  overcome  program 
weaknesses. 

One  of  the  most  important  features 
of  the  work  of  members  of  the  stake 
committee  is  to  follow  up  all  recom- 
mendations previously  made  to  bishop- 
rics and  Aaronic  Priesthood  leaders.  A 
competent  stake  committee  will  so  re- 
spect previous  recommendations  of  fel- 
low committee  members  that  each  suc- 
ceeding visit  will  find  them  checking 
on  such  recommendations  until  favor- 
able action  can  be  reported  thereon. 
Ward  Aaronic  Priesthood  leaders  should 
take  no  offense  when  stake  committee 
members  continually  follow  through  in 
this  major  responsibility. 


Multiple  Credits  Not  Permitted 
in  Absentee  Reports 


It  has  come  to  our  attention  that  some 
of  our  absentee  Aaronic  Priesthood 
members,  particularly  those  in  the  mili- 
tary service,  are  being  told  they  may 
take  credit  for  attending  priesthood  and 
sacrament  meeting,  Sunday  School,  and 
YMMIA  when  only  one  L  D  S  meeting 
is  attended  at  a  given  time. 

No  multiple  credits  are  permitted  or 
authorized.  When  only  one  meeting  is 
attended,  only  one  credit  is  to  be  taken 

754 


when  reporting  on  the  absentee  report. 
Whether  the  meeting  is  a  priesthood  or 
sacrament  meeting,  Sunday  School,  or 
YMMIA  will  depend  upon  the  nature  of 
the  meeting.  The  absentee  will  report 
his  attendance  and  indicate  which  meet- 
ing he  attended. 

Of  course,  if  more  than  one  meeting 
is  attended,  all  such  activities  should  be 
reported  by  the  absentee,  but  no  multi- 
ple credits  taken. 


Rowley  Curtis 


Youth  Receives 
Special  Recognition 

Rowley  is  a  priest  in  the  Springville  First 
Ward,  Kolob  (Utah)  Stake. 

He  has  but  one  more  year  to  go,  and  he 
will  have  earned  seven  individual  Aaronic 
Priesthood  awards  while  serving  in  the  quo- 
rums of  the  Aaronic  Priesthood. 

Rowley  was  elected  president  of  the  Utah 
State  Association  of  Future  Farmers  ol 
America  for  the  current  year.  He  was  also 
awarded  the  State  Farmer  Degree  and  the 
singular  honor  as  State  Star  Farmer  in  con- 
nection with  his  activities  as  a  senior  in  the 
Springville  High  School. 


Lesson  Presentation  Important 
in  Senior  Program 

The  weekly  lesson  presentation  by  a 
carefully  selected  and  well-prepared 
quorum  or  group  instructor  is  a  very 
important  phase  of  the  work  for  senior 
members  of  the  Aaronic  Priesthood. 

It,  at  least,  partially  answers  the  need 
for  group  participation  and  cooperation. 
It  helps  to  break  down  inhibitive  fears 
that  keep  men  from  activity  in  the 
Church.  It  provides  the  psychological 
challenge  of  competition  that  adds 
strength  to  conquest.  It  is  the  oppor- 
tunity to  be  taught  the  principles  of  the 
gospel  without  feeling  that  there  are 
personal  implications.  It  is  the  means 
of  integrating  a  group  and  giving  them 
a  common  objective  to  work  to,  and  the 
incentive  to  reach  it. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  senior 
members  participating  in  groups  usually 
advance  faster  and  overcome  unwanted 
habits  more  readily  than  those  who  are 
worked  with  on  an  individual  basis 
only.  "If  John  can  do  it,  I  can,"  or, 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Bishoprics  Page 


Prepared  by  Lee  A.  Palmer 


No  Secret  Formulae  in 
Effective  Ward  Teaching 

Better  than  average  results  in  the 
ward  teaching  program  are  within 
the  reach  of  all  leaders  who  try  anxious- 
ly to  succeed.  Success  in  this  program  is 
not  achieved  through  use  of  secret 
formulae.  The  chief  component  of  suc- 
cess is  available  in  unlimited  quantities. 
It  is  the  compound  of  W-O-R-K.  There 
is  no  substitute  for  the  magic  of  its 
energizing  influence.  Once  we  exert 
physical  or  mental  effort,  we  are  on  our 
way  to  some  measure  of  accomplish- 
ment. 

Speaking  of  work,  Carlyle  said,  "What 
a  man  can  do  is  his  greatest  ornament, 
and  he  always  consults  his  dignity  by 
doing  it.  "  We  all  admire  the  work  of 
skilled  craftsmen.     Some  workmen  are 


Gridley  (California)  Stake  Honors  Parents  and  Their  Sons 


When  each  Aaronic  Priesthood  bearer  in  the  Gridley  (California)  Stake  was  awarded 
his  Aaronic  Priesthood  pin,  his  parents  were  invited  to  come  to  the  rostrum  and  share 
the  joy  of  their  son's  accomplishment.  Each  mother  was  presented  a  lovely  corsage  as 
the  parents  were  congratulated  by  those  officiating  in  the  presentation. 


Leaders  in  the  ward  teaching  program 
have  much  detailed  work  to  do,  and 
sometimes  it  is  not  easily  accomplished, 
but  it  is  not  dull  nor  is  it  distasteful. 


That  which  is  achieved  in  the  spirit  of 
artists  even  with  a  shovel  because  they  enthusiasm  brings  enduring  joy  to  those 
do  their  work  so  well.    We  are  delighted      who  work  faithfully.    Conscience  makes 


with  the  work  of  artisans,  but  the 
achievements  of  capable  leaders  should 
be  appreciated,  too.  Trained  craftsmen 
adorn  the  work  of  their  hands  while 
successful  leaders  add  beauty  to  their 
souls. 


no  protest  to  the  energetic. 

The  success  of  the  leaders  in  the  ward 
teaching  program  is  commensurate  with 
their  efforts,  and  their  reward  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  quality  and  quantity 
of  the  service  they  render. 


Brothers  Set  Challenging  Attendance  Records 


:>;W:  :■>:■  IS  ::|:: 


'lit*!****™** 


Marvin  Edman 


Brent  Edman 


The  attendance  records  of 
Marvin  and  Brent  Edman, 
Browning  Ward,  Wells 
(Utah)  Stake  are  challeng- 
ing records  on  a  family  scale. 

Marvin  has  maintained  a 
perfect  attendance  at  priest- 
hood and  sacrament  meeting 
for  the  full  seven  years  he 
served  in  the  Aaronic  Priest- 
hood; he  has  recently  been 
ordained  an  elder. 

Brent?  Well,  just  give  him 
another  three  years  at  perfect 
attendance,  and  he  will 
match  his  brother  Marvin's 
record.  He  now  has  a  perfect 
attendance  record  of  nearly 
four  years. 

Bishop  and  Sister  E.  Wil- 
ford  Edman  have  reason  to 
rejoice  in  their  sons'  accom- 
plishments to  date. 


"he  is  not  going  to  get  ahead  of  me," 
are  conscious  or  subconscious  challenges 
a  man  working  with  a  group  usually 
gives  to  himself.  Group  members  who 
grow  together  stay  together.  They  fre- 
quently form  social  groups  after  their 
advancement  to  the  Melchizedek  Priest- 
hood.   They  continue  to  give  each  other 


know  the  men  they  teach  and  slant  each 
lesson  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  answer 
the  needs  of  the  quorum  or  group  mem- 
bers. He  should  believe  in  the  members 
of  the  group.  He  should  encourage  par- 
ticipation, but  guard  against  embarras- 
sing anyone  requiring  involuntary  dis- 
.cussions.     Certainly  every  lesson  should 


needed  moral  support  as  they  face  the  be  carefully  prepared  and  given,  keep- 
new  problems  of  life.  ing  in  mind  that  its  presentation  is  for 

Quorum   or  group  instructors   should  the  benefit  of  the  senior  members. 
OCTOBER  1955 


Aaronic  Priesthood  under  21 

Visits  of  Stake 
Committeemen  Defined 

For  the  most  part,  visits  to  wards  by 
members  of  the  stake  committee  for 
Aaronic  Priesthood  under  21  are  to  be 
made  (1)  during  the  ward  priesthood 
meeting  hour,  (2)  during  the  ward 
Aaronic  Priesthood  leadership  meeting. 
Special  attention  should  be  given  to 
visiting  the  wards  during  the  combined 
ward  Aaronic  Priesthood  meeting  held 
during  the  second  week  in  each  month. 
However,  there  are  other  occasions 
when  special  visits  are  in  order. 

Visits  should  also  be  made  to  wards 
when  members  of  the  stake  committee 
may  render  needed  assistance  to  newly 
appointed  leaders  on  the  ward  level  to 
assist  the  bishopric  in  training  new  ap- 
pointees in  their  work. 

There  may  be  times  when  the  chair- 
man would  like  to  have  a  report  on 
how  the  sacrament  is  administered  by 
the  priests,  how  it  is  passed  by  deacons 
and  teachers,  how  ushering  is  carried 
forward,  or  how  fast  offerings  are  gath- 
ered. Members  of  the  committee  may 
very  appropriately  be  assigned  by  the 
chairman  to  visit  in  wards  to  observe 
these  and  all  other  Aaronic  Priesthood 
functions  when  these  services  are  per- 
formed. 

However,  committee  members,  when 
visiting  other  than  the  two  meetings 
outlined  in  paragraph  one  above,  are 
to  visit  only  to  make  observations.  They 
should  not  expect  to  be  invited  to  sit 
on  the  stand  or  to  be  acknowledged  as 
official  visitors.  Such  special  assign- 
ments are  adequately  filled  if  they  sit 
among  the  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion to  observe  how  Aaronic  Priesthood 
services  are  performed  in  our  meetings. 

755 


Barbara 

Williams 


Food  and  Fun  When 
Spooking  s  Done 


by  Barbara  Williams 


Tricks  and  treats  just  for  the  small 
fry?  No  indeed!  You  know  half- 
a-dozen  couples  who  would  enjoy 
some  good  old-fashioned  spooking, 
and  they  are  probably  the  very  same 
people  you  have  been  meaning  to 
invite  over  for  some  time. 

Why  not  prepare  right  now  for  a 
Halloween  party  and  begin  by  pur- 
chasing a  pack  of  two-penny  post- 
cards, five  for  each  couple  or  guest 
on  your  list?  Mail  the  cards  out  on 
five  consecutive  days,  the  first  four 
cards  bearing  only  a  question  mark 
or  Halloween  symbol,  and  the  last 
card  urging: 

Come  haunt  our  house,  and  maybe 

you 
Can  even  drink  some  witches'  brew; 
Ghosts    and    ghouls    will    congregate 
October  th  at  8.  >\ 

While   your   friends    are   reGtJjv^tg 
the  mysterious  postcards  and  fr_?Prin 
about  what  they  mean,  you  caa^b 
planning  the  games  you  will  want  6 
play  at  the  party. 

Halloween  Cobweb 

Cut  black  yarn  in  equal  lengths  for 
your  guests  (about  60  feet  for  each 
guest).  Pin  or  thumbtack  one  end 
of  each  string,  with  a  guest's  name, 
to  a  wall,  drapery,  or  piece  of  furni- 
ture. Then  weave  each  string  back 
and  forth  through  the  room,  under 
rugs,  around  table  legs,  over  chande- 
liers, and  around  the  strings  of  other 
guests.     The  object,  of  course,  is  to 


see  which  guest  can  untangle  his  part 
of  the  cobweb  first,  but  there  will  be 
a  gaily-wrapped  "prize"  awaiting 
everyone  at  the  end  of  his  string. 
"Prizes"  might  be  individual  poems 
addressed  to  recipients,  sketches  or 
photographs  of  them,  or  simple  gifts 
relating  to  their  hobbies  or  profes- 
sions, such  as  a  needle  for  the  seam- 
stress, a  pencil  for  the  writer,  etc.  Al- 
low yourself  plenty  of  time  (several 
days  ahead  if  you  can)  to  set  up  this 
game  because  guests  will  really  en- 
joy it  if  you  make  their  searches 
challenging  and  their  prizes  personal. 

Pun  Fun 

Each  guest  is  given  a  typewritten 
list  of  words  and  phrases  which  he  is 


to  match  with  objects  or  pictures  on 
a  table.  Here  are  a  few  examples, 
but  you  will  want  to  add  your  own 
items  to  the  list. 

1.  Halloween  colors — charcoal  and 
orange 

2.  vampire — picture  of  movie  siren 

3.  fount  of  tears — onion 

4.  goblin — picture  of  someone  eat- 
ing 

5.  ancient    instrument    of    punish- 
ment— old  hairbrush 

6.  pumpkin — faucet 

7.  skeleton  (bones) — dice 

8.  gravestone — rock  with  sad  face 
painted  on  it 

9.  an  Irish  bat — brick 

(Continued  on  page  758) 


756 


— A  Rumel  Photo 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


*     . 


tpgof 


DELICIOUS  MEAT  PIES  READY  TO  EATl 


Something  new!  Hamburgers  sealed  in 
flaky  pastry.  You  can  make  them  easily  with 
recipe  below.  And  see  that  bag  of  flour  next  to 
the  recipe?  That's  Sperry  Drifted  Snow.  For 
5  generations  Sperry  has  helped  mothers  put 
homemade   goodness  in  lunchboxes  all 


through  the  West.  No  other  flour  can  say 
this.  It's  an  old  standby.  Helps  you  get  extra 
good  results  with  everything  you  bake. 
Double  your  money  back  if  you  don't  agree. 
Tested  recipes  and  Queen  Bess  pattern 
silverware  coupon  in  bag. 


'BURGERS -TO -GO —  Serve  Hot  or  Cold 


HERE'S   WHAT  YOU   NEED: 

1  cup  O/2  lb.)  ground  lean 
beef 
1/2  teaspoon  salt 
Ys  teaspoon  pepper 


tablespoons  milk,  water 

or  catsup 

Pastry 

Relishes 


HERE'S  WHAT  YOU   DO: 

All  measurements  are  level.  Sift  flour  before  measuring.  Mix  beef, 
salt,  pepper  and  liquid  together.  Divide  into  4  equal  portions  and 
shape  into  plump  patties.  Place  each  one  on  a  pastry  round.  Cover 
meat  with  any  or  all  of  relishes.  Top  with  second  pastry  round  and 
seal  edges.  Prick  tops  with  tines  of  fork.  Bake  in  hot  oven,  400°, 
until  pastry  is  a  rich  brown,  about  20  minutes.  Serve  warm,  or, 
cool  and  pack  in  lunchbox.  Makes  4  'Burgers-To-Go. 

PASTRY: 

Measure  into  bowl:  2  cups  sifted  Sperry  Drifted  Snow  Flour, 
1  teaspoon  salt,  V2  CUP  cooking  oil,  %  cup  milk,  1/3  cup  grated 
American  cheese.  Stir  vigorously  to  a  stiff  dough.  Divide  into 
8  equal  portions.  Roll  each  into  a  5-inch  circle,  keeping  edges  even. 

RELISHES: 

Have  ready:  thin  onion  rings,  thin  tomato  slices,  pickle  relish 
or  chili  sauce,  mustard,  thin  slices  cheese. 


Two  other  fine  products  by 

SPERRY  — a  name  famous 

in  the  West 

for  102  years. 


VRIFTED  SNOW 'FLOUR- Md  fy  ik  Uhtfi  Lmj^iFlom  Mihw  -  GENERAL  MILLS  fSpm/  Opwtim] 


J.  Golden  Kimball 


J.  GOLDEN 
KIM  BALL 


^lVtl 


BY   CLAUDE 
RICHARDS 

This  wonderful  biogra- 
phy vividly  detaiFs 
many  of  the  immense 
hardships  of  our  West- 
ern pioneers,  and  high- 
lights a\]  events  with 
the  telling  wit,  good 
humor  and  genuine 
greatness  of  J.  Golden 
Kimball.  $4.00 


LET'S   LIVE 

A  dynamic  and  con- 
structive way  of 
achieving  a  happier, 
longer,  more  successful 
life  is  presented  in 
easy  A-B-C  steps. 
Scores  of  examples 
and  brilliant  quota- 
tions make  this  book 
friendly  and  entertain- 
ing. $3.00 


This  book  counsels  parents  and  youth  to  check  the 
wide  spread  of  delinquency  and  to  prevent  its 
growth  in  homes  of  young  parents.  To  do  this, 
the  author  has  spent  hundreds  of  hours  of  re- 
search to  re- 
veal with  un- 
usual freshness 
and  clarity  the 
ageless  princi- 
ples of  truth. 
This  is  truly  a 
challenging,  vi- 
tal book  that 
makes  a  direct 
approach  to 
one  of  today's 
biggest  prob- 
lems. $2.50 


Deseret" 
Book  Co. 


44  E.  South  Temple 
Salt  Lake  City 


KNOW  YOUR  IDS  COOKS 


(Continued  from  page  756) 
Witchery 

Ask  each  guest  to  write  a  sentence 
on  a  piece  of  paper,  fold  it  a  speci- 
fied way,  and  give  it  to  one  person 
selected  from  the  group.  The  mes- 
sages are  then  delivered  to  you,  but 
you  sit  in  plain  sight  so  it  is  evident 
you  have  had  no  opportunity  to  read 
.them.  You  then  draw  a  message 
^from  the  bottom  of  the  pile,  press  it 
to  your  forehead  with  eyes  closed, 
and  slowly  repeat  aloud  what  it  says. 
The  trick  is  that  one  person  in  the 
audience  writes  no  message  but 
memorizes  one  you  previously  agree 
to  "read"  first.  When  you  receive 
the  other  messages,  you  place  the 
one  already  in  your  hand,  on  the 
bottom  of  the  pile.  After  you  say 
this  message  aloud,  you  open  the 
one  you  pretended  to  read  and  memo- 
rize it  silently  as  you  pretend  to  con- 
firm it  is  the  one  you  have  read 
aloud.  For  your  next  message,  re- 
peat the  one  you  first  opened  and  so 
on.  Suggestion:  Practise  this  before 
you  try  it  on  your  guests. 

Ghost 

Divide  guests  into  two  equal  teams, 
the  men  against  the  women,  if  pos- 
sible. The  first  person  on  one  team 
names  a  letter  (such  as  B),  then  the 
first  person  on  the  other  team  must 
add  another  letter  to  spell  a  word 
(such  as  R  to  spell  "bring"),  and  so 
on.  After  the  third  letter  is  added, 
anyone  actually  completing  a  word 
or  anyone  who  cannot  add  a  letter 
to  spell  a  real  word  misses,  and  with 
each  miss  becomes  a  G-H-O-S-T. 
After  the  fifth  miss  he  is  a  "ghost," 
and  anyone  who  talks  to  a  "ghost" 
becomes  one  also.  The  object  is  to 
avoid  ending  a  word,  but  this  is 
sometimes  impossible.  If  anyone  adds 
a  letter  without  a  definite  word  in 
mind,  he  is  open  to  challenge  and 
if  caught  misses.  A  mistaken  chal- 
lenger misses  also. 

Vampire,  Goblin,  Ghost,  and  Ghoul 

This  is  a  Halloween  twist  to  the 
favorite  parlor  game  "Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke,  and  John."  The  first  four 
chairs  in  the  room  are  designated 
Vampire,  Goblin,  Ghost,  and  Ghoul, 
and  the  remaining  chairs  are  num- 
bered 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  etc.     The  person 


758 


sitting  on  the  vampire  chair  is  the 
leader  and  starts  all  players,  in 
rhythm,  slapping  their  knees  twice, 
and  then  snapping  their  fingers.  The 
Vampire  calls  out  on  the  snap  the 
name  of  one  of  the  other  spooks  or 
one  of  the  numbers,  such  as,  "Three." 
On  the  next  snap,  Three  must  call 
another  number  or  spook.  If  any 
guest  calls  his  own  chair's  name  or 
a  name  that  doesn't  exist  or  fails  to 
call  a  number  or  spook  in  rhythm 
with  the  snap,  he  misses  and  goes  to 
the  end  of  the  line.  The  other  guests 
then  move  up  and  assume  the  names 
of  their  new  chairs.  Set  a  time  limit, 
and  the  person  in  the  vampire  chair 
at  the  end  wins. 

HALLOWEEN  MENU 

Spicy  Witches'  Brew 

Jack-O-Burgers 

Black  and  Orange  Salad 

Pumpkin  Chiffon  Pie 

Caramel  Fortune  Balls 

Spicy  Witches'  Brew 

2  12  oz.  cans  apricot  nectar 

pinch   salt 
2  tablespoons  sugar 
5  cloves 

2  sticks  cinnamon 
1  can  frozen  orange  juice,  diluted 

juice  of  one  lemon 

Add  seasonings  to  apricot  juice  and 
simmer  for.  one  hour.  Strain.  Just  be- 
fore serving  add  lemon  and  orange  juice 
and  heat  again.  Serve  with  quarter 
slice  of  orange  floating  in  each  cup. 

] ack-O -Burgers 

Fill  fresh  bakery  buns  with  your 
favorite  recipe  for  barbecued  hambur- 
gers. Make  pumpkin  faces  on  each  bun 
by  slicing  stuffed  olives  for  eyes,  pickles 
for  nose  and  mouth.  A  dab  of  honey 
will  keep  features  in  place,  but  use  it 
sparingly! 

Black  and  Orange  Salad 

1  package   lemon  gelatin 

1  cup  hot  water 
3/4  cup  cold  water 

2  tablespoons  lemon  juice 

1  teaspoon  grated  onion  (optional) 

3  ounces  processed  cheese  cut  into  cubes 
!/3  cup  pitted  and  sliced  ripe  olives 

!/3  cup  broken  nutmeats 

Dissolve  gelatin  in  hot  water.  Add 
cold  water,  lemon  juice,  and  onion  and 
chill  until  slightly  thickened.  Fold  in 
remaining  ingredients.     Serves  6. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


3 

1 

1 

!/2 
1 

v4 


Pumpkin  Chiffon  Pie 

eggs,  separated 
cup  sugar 

cup  canned  pumpkin 
cup  milk 

tablespoon  gelatin 
cup  water 
teaspoon  salt 
teaspoon  ginger 
teaspoon  nutmeg 
teaspoon  cinnamon 
pinch  cloves 


Combine  egg  yolks,  one-half  cup 
sugar,  pumpkin,  milk  and  spices  in 
double  boiler  and  cook  until  thick.  Add 
gelatin  soaked  in  water.  Cool  until 
partially  set,  then  add  egg  whites  stiffly 
beaten  with  remaining  sugar.  Spoon 
gently  into  crumb  or  pastry  shell. 

Crumb  Shell 

22  vanilla  wafers,  finely  rolled 
!/3  cup  melted  butter 
2  tablespoons   sugar 
Y2  cup  finely  chopped  nuts 

Mix  together  and  press  with  spoon 
into  9-inch  pie  shell. 

Caramel   Fortune   Balls 

1   pound  candy  caramels 

5  tablespoons  hot  water 

4  quarts   unbuttered   popcorn 

Melt  caramels  in  top  of  double  boiler 
and  add  water.  Pour  over  corn,  and 
shape  into  balls,  inserting  in  the  center 
of  each  a  "fortune"  for  each  guest 
(previously  typed  and  folded  very  tight- 
ly so  it  will  not  stick  to  candy).  Twist 
in  transparent  food  wrapping  and  tie 
with  orange  and  black  ribbons.  Makes 
12  medium  balls. 

You  and  your  guests  will  all  enjoy 
your  party  more  if  you  avoid  last-minute 
details  and  prepare  your  games  and 
prizes  days  in  advance.  Black  and 
orange  salad,  pumpkin  chiffon  pie,  and 
caramel  fortune  balls  can  also  be  made 
the  day  before  to  relieve  any  day-of-the- 
party  blues.  So  happy  planning,  and 
happy  haunting! 


NOTE 

In  the  June  issue  of  the  Era  on  page 
468  the  tasty  spoon  bread  recipe  should 
include  at  the  top  of  the  list  of  in- 
gredients  1    quart   of  warm   milk. 

Whoever  heard  of  a  lemon  pie 
recipe  without  water?  We  haven't. 
Therefore,  please  correct  the  recipe  on 
page  678  of  the  September  issue  to 
read  4  quarts  water  rather  than  4 
quarts    sugar. 

We     apologize. 

OCTOBER  1955 


Favorite  drink 
of  healthy  families 


f 


Instant  Poskim  with  hot  milk 
is  a  nourishing  cereal  beverage! 

There's  a  lot  of  wholesomeness  in  a  delicious  cupful  of  grain-rich 

Instant  Postum,  prepared  with  hot  milk.  Here's  why- 
Instant  Postum  is  made  of  nourishing  whole  wheat  and  bran. 

Add  hot  milk  and  a  little  sugar,  and  you  have  a  hearty,  healthful 

beverage  with  all  the  warmth  and  satisfaction  you  crave  from  a 

hot  drink! 

Instant  Postum  is  also  good  with  hot  water,  or  as  a  milk 

shake  with  cold  milk. 

Serve  it  to  your  family  today — it  costs  less  than  a  penny  a 

cup!  Another  wonderful  General  Foods  product. 

America's  favorite  cereal  beverage 

Instant  Postum 


Postum  i 


No  caffein 


759 


A  NEW 
WORLD  OF  FASHION 

...  in  the  west's 
most  beautiful  store 


THE  NEW  MAKOFF 
South  Temple  ot  Second  East 


GRIND  YOUR 
FLOUR  &  CE 

with  this  sturdy 

WHEAT  MILL 

ONLY 
$g50 

POSTPAID 

ANYWHERE 

IN 

AMERICA 


Mill  cracks  or  grinds  wheat,  corn  and  all 
kinds  of  hard  or  soft  grains.  Grinds  V/2 
pounds  of  flour  or  cereal  per  minute. 
.  .  .  Fully  guaranteed  by   Pehrson's. 

SPECIAL   PRICES  TO  L.D.S.   GROUPS 

Please  send   me   one   Wheat  Mill.     Inclosed    Is 
$6.50  (check  or  money  order.) 

Name     

Address    

City    

State 


PEHRSON  HARDWARE 

2102  SOUTH  11th  EAST   •   SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH 


760 


LET  SISTER  HELP 

by  Louise  Price  Bell 


tou'll  find  that  bedtime  will  not 
be  a  nightmare  nor  a  dreaded 
ordeal  if  you  give  Big  Sister  the 
responsibility  of  looking  after  her 
small  brother  so  far  us  undressing, 
bathing,  brushing  teeth,  and  all  the 
bedtime  routine  is  concerned.  He 
won't  mind  brushing  his  teeth  to  the 
tune  of  Sister's  merry  little  jingle  or 
slipping  into  his  pajamas  when  he 
and  she  are  playing  most  of  the  time. 
Mothers  are  usually  busy  at  this 
early  bedtime  hour  and  getting  ready 
for  bed  often  has  to  be  more  or  less 


a  businesslike  affair.  Not  so  with  the 
older  sisters,  as  they  will  not  only 
like  the  responsibility  but  will  at  the 
same  time  also  be  receiving  excellent 
training  for  their  later  roles  as  moth- 
ers. Try  this  arrangement  in  your 
family,  and  you'll  find  that  Little 
Brother  will  look  forward  to  bedtime 
if  Sister  is  going  to  tell  him  a  story 
as  she  undresses  and  bathes  him. 
And,  at  the  same  time,  a  fine  spirit 
of  comradery  will  be  built  up  between 
the  two  children. 


— A  Russell  Photo 


■  ^  ■ 


HANDY  HINTS 


Payment  for  Handy  Hints  used  will  be 
one  dollar  upon  publication.  In  the  event 
that  two  with  the  same  idea  are  submitted, 
the  one  postmarked  earlier  will  receive  the 
dollar.  None  of  the  ideas  can  be  returned, 
but  each  will  receive  careful  consideration. 

If  you  add  a  little  sugar  to  the  milk  and 
egg  mixture  into  which  bread  is  dipped 
when  you  are  making  French  toast,  the 
bread  will  brown  well  in  the  skillet. — Mrs. 
A.  A.,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


Blend  three  tablespoons  of  honey  with 
a  couple  of  tablespoons  of  confectioner's 
sugar  and  a  tablespoon  of  butter  or 
margarine.  Dribble  this  mixture  over  hot 
biscuits  when  they  come  from  the  oven. 
Very  good  eating! — B.  H.,  San  Mateo,  Cali- 
fornia. 

Push  short  pieces  of  macaroni  into  cake 
frosting  as  "vases"  to  hold  tiny  flowers  for 
a  special  occasion  cake. — Mrs.  R.  C,  Cains- 
ville,  Missouri. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


<    / 


waxed  I 
Paper 


•Ma^W^r' 


To  serve  5 or 6  ,    .  " 

<»opp.d  n4""e  *  «*  Me  tosteAZa\p^ 

'"  P<"rs,  wrap  .     !"  "*<"  *«.*„    ' ','"  *  ™P 
**•»**,.      7;C*  '"  ZEE  VV„I'/;'  **•'*..- 


^--,, 


^^^ 


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make-ahead  salads  stay  so  crisp,  sandwiches 
so  fresh,  leftovers  so  tasty,  when  wrapped  in  ZEE  Waxed 
Paper.  ZEE  is  completely  bathed  in  preservative  wax. . . 
every  inch  of  its  glossy-smooth  length.  You'll  like 
ZEE...  the  way  it  keeps  flavor  and  freshness  in, 
dryness  out.  And  so  economical ! 


^uyjtliM^  Mjiaj'm^JIm^  ZEE  pWu^tk)! 


Crown  Zellerbach  Corporation 


Why  Share  Your  Space 
with  a   Swinging   Door? 


a  "MODERNFOLD" 
door  takes   none 

•  MORE  SPACE  FOR  LIVING 

•  NEW   COLORFUL  BEAUTY 

*  RIGID  -  STRENGTH   OF  STEEL 

*  MOVABLE  WALLS 

the  doors  that  fold 
like  an  accordion 


modernfold 


For  demonstration  write  or  phone 

ALDERS 

1343  South  Main  Salt  Lake  City 

Phone  IN  7-1531 

Please    send    me    your    free    booklet    entitled 
"More  Space  for  Living"  IE-10. 


NAME.... 
Address .. 
City 


State 


Beautifies  and  Protects  All  Woods 

Get  the  original  crystal  -  clear  "Plastic 
Spar."  Use  inside  or  outside  on  blond, 
knotty  pine,  redwood  and  all  hardwoods — 
floors,  station  wagons,  boats,  fishing  rods, 
etc.  Withstands  weather,  hot  and  salt 
water.  Easy  to  apply,  brush  or  spray — 
quick  to  dry!  Does  not  darken.  Durable — 
does  not  crack.  Sold  by  hardware,  lumber 
and  paint  dealers.  Or  sent  postpaid.  No 
CO. D.s  please.  #2.25  quart,  $7.75  gal.,  tax 
included.  Security  Royal  Dutch  Paint  Mfg. 
Co.,  1621  No.  Indiana  St.,  Los  Angeles  63. 


DRINK 


ficq° 


A  delightful 

hot  beverage  for  those 

who  don't  drink  coffee. 


AT        YOUR        GROCERS 


UNDERSTANDING 

by  O.  A.  Kearney 


I  remember  the  so-called  "bank 
holiday"  of  1933  when  all  of  the 
banks  were  closed  for  a  few  days. 
We  were  not  doing  business  at  all, 
but  a  few  of  us  officers  were  sitting 
at  our  desks.  The  front  door  opened, 
and  a  rather  poorly  dressed  man  came 
in. 

He  walked  down  the  deserted  lob- 
by, looking  inquiringly  at  the  tellers' 
windows.  I  left  my  desk,  went  up 
to  him,  and  tried  to  explain  that  all 
the  banks  were  closed  temporarily. 
He  seemed  more  confused.  I  soon 
saw  that  he  could  neither  understand 
nor  speak  English. 

I  called  downstairs  for  one  of  our 
janitors  to  come  up. 

"Joe,"  I  said,  "this  old  gentleman 
has  come  to  get  his  money.  He  is  a 
Bohemian,  and  doesn't  understand 
English.  Will  you  see  if  you  can 
explain  to  him?" 

"Sure,"  said  Joe.  "I  will  talk  to 
him." 

Soon  Joe  and  the  elderly  man  were 
in  earnest  conversation.  I  saw  Joe 
leading  him  out  the  front  door,  and 
both  seemed  in  a  good  humor.  I  felt 
relieved. 

"Good  work,  Joe,"  I  said.  "Did 
you  persuade  him  to  come  back  later 
for  his  money?" 

Joe  laughed,  "Sure  I  persuaded 
him.  He  didn't  want  to  draw  his 
money  out.  He  wanted  to  deposit 
some." 

Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore 
get  wisdom:  and  with  'all  thy  getting  get 
understanding.    (Proverbs  4:7.) 


Should  Parents  Be  Teachers? 

{Continued  from  page  715) 

...  It  is  becoming  a  practice  today  to 
try  to  coax,  cajole,  buy  children  to  be  good. 
We  hesitate,  some  of  us,  to  say  to  children, 
you  must  not  do  this,  you  must  not  do  that, 
and  to  our  young  people  we  hesitate  to  do 
this,  because  we  may  offend  them.  The 
Lord  has  made  it  perfectly  clear,  from 
Adam  until  now,  and  has  told  us  in  no 
unmistaken  words,  that  there  are  certain 
things  "thou  shaft  not"  do.  Adam  fell  be- 
cause he  violated  one  "Thou  shalt  not." 
Moses  from  Sinai  gave  a  whole  series  of 
commandments,  only  one  of  which  has  not 
"Thou  shalt  not"  in  it. 

My  brethren  and  sisters,  our  young  peo- 
ple welcome,  they  expect  that  we  shall  tell 
them  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  do,  and 


BISHOPS 

AND   OTHER  CHURCH   OFFICIALS 

Save  more  than  $500  on  the  purchase  of 

your  CHURCH   ORGAN 


You're  invited  to  come  in  during  Con- 
ference or  any  time  for  a  demonstration 
of  the  ESTEY  TWO -MANUAL  VIRTU- 
OSO   ORGAN. 

Also  the  new  ESTEY  two-manual  elec- 
tronic   organ   available    now. 

SUMMERHAYS  MUSIC  CO. 

21    East  1st  South  Salt   Lake  City,   Utah 

Phone  EM  3-4479 


Keep   Kip  Handy  for  Burns 

Kip  is  the  West's  most  famous  burn  treatment- 
first  aid  for  burns,  scalds,  sunburn,  cuts  and 
scratches.  Kip  eases  pain  promptly,  promotes 
healing,  lessens  chances  of  scarring.  Keep  creamy 
Kip  ointment  always  handy  for  emergencies. 
Or  try  soothing  Kip  antiseptic  oil.  Both  contain 
powerful  pain-lifting  topical  anesthetics.  Both 
are  antiseptic— safe  to  use  with  children.  Get  it 
at  drug  stores  in  50c  tubes  or  Vi  lb.  tins  $1. 
or  send  10c  for  sample  to  Kip,  778  E.  Pico, 
Los  Angeles   21.    Keep  Kip  handy! 


mowvoe 

k  FOLDING 
BANQUET 
•  TABLES 


Direct  Prices  &  ^ 
Discounts  to 
Churches,  Schools, 
and  all  Institutions 


MONROE  TRUCKS 


For  storing  Folding  Tables  and  Chairs 
the  easy  modern  way  Each  truck 
handles  either  tables  or  chairs.  Construe: 
tion  of  Truck  No.  TSC  permits  storage 
in  limited  space. 


Transport  Storage 
Truck  No.  T$ 

Church  Units  may  direct  their  inquiries  to  the 
Church  Purchasing  Department,  47  East 
South  Temple,   Salt  Lake   City  1,  Utah. 


the  IMovtaoe.  company 


249CHURCH    STREET,    COLFAX.    IOWA 


762 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


what  not  to  do  must  be  told  them  in  such 
language,  in  such  terms,  and  with  such 
emphasis  that  they  are  not  left  in  doubt. 
Try  this  on  your  young  people  and  you 
will  be  amazed  at  the  response  you  will  get. 
They  are  hungering  for  the  gospel.  See  to 
it  that  we  do  not  starve  them;  they  must 
be  fed.  (Conference  Report,  October  1941, 
P.   17.) 

Criminologists  tell  us  that  most  of 
our  delinquencies  originate  in  bad  or 
neglected  homes.  Economists  say  that 
the  training  of  the  home  is  largely 
responsible  for  the  thrift,  industry, 
and  prosperity  of  the  nation.  Doctors 
advise  us  that  the  health  of  the  peo- 
ple depends  on  care  and  teachings 
in  the  home,  and  eugenists  assure  us 
that  the  whole  trend  of  human  hap- 
piness, intelligence,  goodness,  and  en- 
durance depends  on  it. 

To  the  members  of  the  Church, 
the  home  has  an  enlarged  significance 
that  is  subordinate  to  nothing;  else  in 
life,  for  it  constitutes  not  only  the 
source  of  our  greatest  happiness  here 
in  this  life,  but  also  the  foundation  of 
our  exaltation  and  glory  in  the  life  to 
come.  After  all,  it  is  basically  a  re- 
ligious institution.  It  has  its  origin 
in  religious  ceremony.  It  is  the  ful- 
filment of  divine  commandment.  Its 
government  is  of  a  religious  nature, 
and  the  finest  of  its  products  are 
spiritual. 

The  Lord  expects  us  to  teach  our 
children  his  revealed  word,  to  im- 
plant faith  and  obedience  deeply 
within  their  hearts.  We  may  not 
leave  their  training  entirely  to  teach- 
ers in  church  and  school.  They  will 
assist,  but  we,  the  parents  are 
their  teachers,  their  exemplars,  their 
strength. 


«  ■♦-  * 


Dear  Tom: 

(Continued  from  page  719) 

me  .  .  .  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn 
of  me  .  .  ."?  (Ibid.,  11:28-29.)  For 
"I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a 
Father  unto  you  .  .  .  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty."  (II  Cor.  6:17-18.) 

What  earthly  father  can  bestow 
such  precious  promises  as  our  Heav- 
enly Father  offers  us  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?  He  promises  those 
who  obey  him  faithfully  to  the  end 
of  their  days  that  he  will  not  blot 
out  their  names  from  the  Book  of 
Life,    but    will    confess    their    names 

(Continued  on  following  page) 
OCTOBER  1955 


Thinking  About  A  New  Organ? 

Let  us  give  you  facts  that  helped  in  the  choosing 
and   recent   installation   of  a 


HAMMOND  ORGAN 


in  the 

•  PALMYRA  WARD   CHAPEL 

•  WOODLAND   WARD   CHAPEL 

•  OQUIRRH    STAKE-SPENCER   WARD 
TABERNACLE 


An    Instrument   of   Enormous    Power   and    Beauty    Providing    a 
Magnificent  Variety  of  True  Church  Tones. 

Note:     Special    Demonstration    Recitals    During    Conference. 
Get   Details  from  Seldon   N.    Heaps. 

GLEN  BROS.  MUSIC  CO. 


OGDEN 


SALT   LAKE   CITY 
74  So.  Main 


PROVO 


24  Hour 
service 

365  days  a  year 


Electric 

WATER 

HEATING 


costs  the 

average 

family 

only 

about 

10c 

a  day 


Buy  From  Your  Dealer         /p\ 
Or  Plumber  ^ 


Be  Modern 
Live  Electrically 

UTAH  POWER  &  LIGHT  CO. 


DON'T  FORGET  THE  RAMILY! 


Reduced  Fare  by  Air — November  1  to 
March  31  is  thrift  season  to  Europe.  Now  you 
can  afford  to  take  the  whole  family  using  the 

FAMILY   FARE   PLAN. 

Here's  how  it  works  —  head  of  family  pays 
full  fare,  wife  or  children  12  to  25  years 
of  age  receive  $300  reduction  each  on  round- 
trip  first  class  air  fare.  A  family  of  four 
can  save  up  to  $900  using  this  service. 
For    further    information    see  .   .   . 


UNIVERSAL 

^Jravet  Service 


Hotel  Temple  Square 

Salt  Lake  City 
EL  5-6552-EL  5-5924 


Hotel  Ben  Lomond 

Ogden,  Utah 

4-2667 


IN   THE 
GOSPEL   NET 

By   ELDER   JOHN   A.   WIDTSOE 


For  missionaries,  for  investi- 
gators, for  home  reading, 
for  gifts  to  friends. 

At  your 

Bookdealers  $1.75 


763 


Enjoy 
finer  flavor 
and  greater 
nutrition  of 
whole  wheat 
grain  . .  . 

freshly  ground! 


Ever-increasing 
in  popularity 

Everyone  knows  that 
bread  and  ofher  cereal 
foods  made  with  whole 
grain  freshly  ground 
is  far  tastier  and  richer 
in  health-giving  nutri- 
ments. And  —  it's  the 
wise  home  where  some- 
thing is  done  about  it. 

Rapid  —  efficient,  the 
Lee  Household  Electric 
FlourMill  reduces  whole 
grain  to  fluffy  flour  for 
a  fraction  of  a  penny 
a  pound.  Best  of  all, 
it's  STONE  GROUND— 


every  food  element  is 
retained  I  WRITE  TO- 
DAY for  prices— FREE 
recipes — food  facts! 


SPECIAL 
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Send  coupon  for  intro- 
ductory offer  of  5- lb. 
pkg..  Deaf  Smith  wheat 
flour,  America's  rich- 
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or  select  Wis. -Minn., 
wheat  flour  —  stone 
ground  the  day  it's 
shipped. 

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LEE  ENGINEERING  COMPANY,  Depf.,    I.E. 
2023  W.  Wisconsin  Ave.,  Milwaukee  3,  Wis. 

□  DEAF  SMITH   FLOUR,   5-lb.   pkg.   Postpaid.  Only  $1.50 
D  WIS. -MINN.  FLOUR,  5-  lb.  pkg.   Postpaid.  Only  $1.00 


DEAR  TOM: 


Name 


Street    

City  State 


]::s0^-^: 


VITAMINS 
MINERALS 


Drink  them  in 

delicious  juice  form  — Use  a 

SWEDEN  Speed  JUICER 

Give  your  family  the  natural 
nutrients  of  carrots,  celery, 
apples,  cabbage,  etc.  in  deli- 
cious juices.  Sweden  process 
for  true  natural  flavor.  Even 
those  who  balk  at  cooked  veg- 
etables will  want  "seconds." 


Juice  in  seconds. 
Easy  to  operate- 
Easy  to  clean. 


At  leading  depart- 
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and  health-food 
stores,  or  write  far 
free  folder. 


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OTHERS   PENDING 


SWEDEN   FREEZER  MFG.  CO. 
DEPT.  JI-]  JUICER   DIVISION    •    SEATTLE  99,  WASH. 

764 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
before  our  Father  and  before  his 
angels.  And  each  of  these  faithful 
ones  shall  be  given  a  new  name, 
".  .  .  which  no  man  knoweth  saving 
he  that  receiveth  it."  (Rev.  2:17.) 
".  .  .  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the 
name  of  my  God  .  .  .  and  I  will  write 
upon  him  my  new  name."  (Ibid., 
3:12.) 

If  an  earthly  father  has  the  right 
to  say,  "I  acknowledge  this  child  as 
mine;  he  is  heir  to  my  name  with  all 
that  it  stands  for;  and  he  is  heir  to 
my  possessions,"  how  much  more 
right  has  our  Heavenly  Father  to  say 


this  to  his  children?  Can  any  human 
birthright  be  of  greater  value  than 
your  divine  one,  Tom?  Your  Heav- 
enly Father  acknowledges  you  as  his 
child,  and  offers  you  the  privilege  of 
bearing  his  name  and  of  becoming 
heir  to  all  that  is  his. 

The  Apostle  Paul  wrote,  "For  as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
they  are  the  sons  of  God. 

".  .  .  ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba, 
Father. 

"The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness 
with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  chil- 
dren of  God: 


(ti 
| 

1 
1 

<A 
(A 


I 


x  en 


■ana 


to me  ulna 

Richard  L.  Evans 


Tn  Hamlet,  Shakespeare  penned  this  provocative  sentence: 
*  "God  has  given  you  one  face,  and  you  make  yourselves 
another."1  God  has  also  given  us  in  our  entrance  into  this 
life,  a  new  start  for  the  making  of  memories,  and  as  we  make 
our  memories,  we  ourselves  become  the  evidence  of  what  we 
are,  and  no  man  need  write  our  record.  Many  things  we 
might  have  thought  were  long-forgotten  have  proved  to  be 
persistent,  stored  away,  only  waiting  to  be  recalled.  We  never 
know  when  something  will  start  a  chain  reaction  of  ideas 
that  will  bring  back  some  memory  from  the  far  past.  We 
never  know  when  something  will  recall  a  long-forgotten  im- 
pression of  the  past.  Usually  memory  is  useful.  We  expect 
it  to  be — and  if  we  didn't  feci  that  we  could  count  on  it, 
we  surely  wouldn't  spend  the  years  of  time  and  effort  in 
learning,  in  storing  away  information,  later  to  be  put  to  some 
useful  purpose.  Sometimes  it  takes  a  little  brushing  up, 
a  little  freshening  of  memory  to  recall  what  we  have  once 
learned,  but  once  having  learned  something,  we  expect  to 
be  able  to  bring  it  back.  And  this  also  we  would  well  re- 
member: that  the  same  process  which  records  what  we  would 
want  to  remember,  also  records  what  we  would  perhaps 
rather  forget.  This  emphasizes  the  importance  of  the  making 
of  memories,  of  the  thoughts  we  think,  of  what  we  choose  to 
give  our  attention  to,  of  what  we  permit  to  be  stored  in  our 
minds.  We  ourselves  are  our  written  record,  and  if  we  have 
written  some  things  wrong,  there  is  still  the  blessed  privilege 
of  repentance,  and  with  it,  peace  and  quiet  thoughts  can 
come,  even  after  a  bad  beginning — if  we  have  the  strength 
and  courage  and  desire  to  turn  about  and  sincerely  improve 
our  performance.  But  if  we  want  the  kind  of  memories  that 
are  good  to  remember,  we  had  better  live  and  do  and  think 
the  things  that  make  that  kind  of  memories.* 

Ulte    Spoken      Word         FROM  TEMPLE  SQUARE 

PRESENTED  OVER  KSL  AND  THE  COLUMBIA  BROADCASTING 

SYSTEM,  AUGUST  14,   1955 

Copyright,   1955 


^Shakespeare,  Hamlet,  Act  iii,  sc.   1, 
*Revised. 

"  THE  IMPROVEMENT 


ERA 


"And  if  children,  then  heirs;  heirs 
of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ;  if 
so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we 
may  be  also  glorified  together." 
(Romans  8:14-17.) 

There  is  a  name  for  you  to  bear, 
Tom.  There  is  a  Father's  blessing 
for  you  to  receive.  You  are  a  mem- 
ber of  a  royal  family.  What  more 
precious  knowledge  can,  you  attain 
than  the  knowledge  of  your  true  in- 
heritance as  a  child  of  God? 

"I  would  give  everything  I  own 
to  know  who  I  am." 

Would  you,  Tom? 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
Visits  the  Far  East 

(Continued  from  page  703) 

Members  of  the  Church  in  the  Far 
East  had  been  anxiously  awaiting  the 
visitors  from  Salt  Lake  City,  and 
when  President  and  Sister  Joseph 
Fielding  Smith  arrived  in  Tokyo, 
many  of  the  Saints,  both  the  Japanese 
people  and  the  servicemen  stationed 
here,  came  to  the  mission  home  to 
welcome  them.  For  many  of  the 
servicemen  it  was  a  little  touch  of 
home  while  faraway.  For  all  it  was 
gratifying  to  meet  these  wonderful 
servants  of  the  Lord.  The  mission 
home  was  crowded  with  happy  peo- 
ple, and  as  is  usual,  there  were  many 
surprise  meetings  of  old  friends. 

Over  fifteen  hundred  LDS  service- 
men in  the  Far  East  are  organized 
into  forty-seven  groups  and  branches, 
and  sixty  to  seventy  percent  of  these 
men  are  active.  Last  year  about 
$26,000.00  was  contributed  by  them 
to  Church  activities  in  Japan  and  the 
Far  East. 

The  following  Sunday,  July  31,  a 
quarterly  conference  was  held  for  the 
servicemen  of  the  Central  Honshu 
District  in  the  military  chapel  at 
Washington  Heights  housing  area  in 
Tokyo.  It  was  a  wonderful  feeling 
to  be  in  such  a  large  congregation 
again. 

When  the  conference  got  under 
way,  all  the  seats  were  filled.  After 
a  song  and  prayer,  the  names  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Church,  from  Presi- 
dent David  O.  McKay  on  down  to 
our  district  leaders,  were  read  to  give 
us  the  privilege  of  sustaining  them 
with  our  vote  and  to  remind  us  of  the 
importance  of  the  principle  of  free 
agency  in  the  gospel. 

One  of  the  sweetest  moments  of  the 
afternoon  came  when  Sister  Smith  sat 
(Concluded  on  following  page) 
OCTOBER  1955 


& 


vvtfv* 


This  panel  of  Blue  Ridge 
Doublex  Glass  gives  a 
cheerful,  sparkling  dec- 
orative effect,  without 
sacrifice  of  light. 

Patterned      Glass      adds 

charm   and   smartness   in 

your     home     or     office. 

And  —  Decorative  Glass 

is    practical,    transmits    light    and    is    NOT 

expensive. 


\ 


\ 


65  W.  First  South— 21st  South  &  2nd  West 

and  Bennett's  Branches  throughout  the 

Intermountain  Country. 


\Sj8MA^£tt^ 


Higher  Skills 

Mean 
Better  Jobs 

There  is  still  time  to 
register  for  the  Au- 
tumn Quarter.  Start 
your  business  career 
NOW! 


\m 


Latimer,    Janet    Sprouse,    Nathan    R.    Larsen 
Rear :  Florence  P.  Evans,  instructor 
These  three  students  recently  won  Gregg  awards  for  passing 
the  official    160-word    test.     Their   goal    now   is    175    words    a 
minute.     (Miss    Latimer    typed    127    words    a    minute    for    five 
minutes   without   error!) 


BUSINESS  COLLEGE 

BRANCH   OF   BRIGHAM  YOUNG   UNIVERSITY 
70  North  Main  -  EM  3-2765  -  Salt  Lake  City' 


!"""""'".»„„„ 


"•"iiiimuu 


SfND  FOR 


=   I 


'"",, 


''",, 


Send  me  a  kit  of  information  about  Autumn  Classes  and  include 
In  The   Door"  by  J.  P.  McEvoy. 

Name    - 

Address    City 


'Get  Your  Toe 


'"/, 


'""/nil""1"1 


ni»»>' 


iii»' 


State 


^   HEADQUARTERS  FOR  L.D.S. f 
d         IN  LAS  VEGAS,  NEVADA    k 

YE  KINGS  REST  MOTEL 

526  SOUTH  5TH  STREET 

Dr.  Harold  B.  Foutz,  Owner 

Edgar  H.  Foutz,  Manager 

Beautyrest  Mattresses  Throughout 


ORocens  f  QUI CK,EASV  SO  t>EUClOOS 


765 


Young  Gooding  cook  plans  to  become  doctor 


Idaho  College  Girl  Wins  Cooking  Award 


It's  easy  for  Jan  Willms  (right)  to 
impress  her  college  friends  with  her 
cooking  skill  ...  all  she  has  to  do 
is  show  them  the  ribbons  she  won  in 
cooking  contests.  Here  Sue  McMahon 
admires  the  big  prize  ribbon  Jan  won 
just  last  year  —  at  the  Gooding 
County  Fair. 

Jan  is  taking  a  premedical  course 
at  the  State  University,  but  she's 
also  interested  in  swimming  and  dra- 
matics— and  loves  to  cook.  She  en- 
joys using  the  best  ingredients,  too, 
like  Fleischmann's  Active  Dry  Yeast. 
"It's  so  easy  to  use,"  she  says.  "And 
always  rises  fast." 


Here's  a  tip  for  women  who  bake  at 
home.  The  handiest  yeast  you  can 
buy  is  Fleischmann's  Active  Dry 
Yeast.  This  grand  dry  yeast  is  so  easy 
to  use — dissolves  in  a  jiffy  and  rises 
fast.  Fleischmann's  Active  Dry  Yeast 
makes  it  so  convenient  for  you  to 
serve  yeast-raised  specialties.  It  keeps 
for  months — always  ready  to  use. 
Ask  for  Fleischmann's  Active  Dry 
Yeast  —  the  yeast  prize-winning 
cooks  prefer. 

Get  the  New 
"Thrifty  Three" 


Get  the  energy  you  need 
from 

TABLE  QUEEN 
Bread 


Because  Table  Queen  Enriched  White 
Bread  is  readily  digestible,  its  caloric 
values  become  quickly  available  for  energy 
purposes.  That's  Vvhy  Table  Queen  bread 
is  the  ideal  energy  food  for  all  kinds  of  diets 
.  .  .  and  particularly  for  reducing  diets. 

At  the  same  time  it  provides  essential 
and  very  important  nutritional 
contributions  to  morning,  noon  and 
nighttime  meals.  Combining  the  proteins 
of  wheat  flour  and  non-fat  milk  solids, 
Table  Queen  Enriched  Bread  is  high 
in  protein  content,  and  an  excellent 
source  of  vitamins  and  minerals 
you  need  every  day. 


Growing  children  and  ALL  adults  need 
the  energy  Table  Queen  provides. 


enriched  with  vitamins  and  iron 


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ROYAL    BAKING    CO 

Salt  Lake  City  Ogden 


HAVE  YOU    READ   .   .   . 

"GOSPEL 
IDEALS"? 


Selections   from    the   Discourses 
of 

David   O.  McKay 

At    All    Bookdealers  $4.00 


President  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
Visits  the  Far  East 

{Concluded  from  preceding  page) 

at  the  piano  to  play  and  sing  for  us 
"And  the  Heavens  Were  Opened." 

When  President  Smith  came  to  the 
rostrum  he  spoke  to  an  audience 
eager  to  hear  his  words  and  be  coun- 
seled in  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  The 
strength  and  authority  of  his  ad- 
monitions gave  courage  to  his  listen- 
ers. Among  his  many  worth-while 
thoughts  President  Smith  advised: 
"Do  not  turn  to  the  right  or  left," 
and  "Search  the  scriptures  to  prepare 
yourself  to  understand  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  We  have  advan- 
tages of  which  the  world  knows  noth- 
ing." 

And  so  it  went  throughout  the 
Sunday  afternoon  and  evening.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  seemed  present  in 
rich  abundance  to  edify  us  through 
all  the  meetings  of  the  conference. 

The  Saints  in  the  "Land  of  the 
Rising  Sun"  are  grateful  to  President 
and  Sister  Smith  for  making  this  long 
trip  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord  and 
strengthen  them  in  the  gospel. 


766 


Melchizedek  Priesthood 

(Continued  from  page  753) 

are  once  again  encouraged  to  be  in 
attendance  at  stake  priesthood  and 
priesthood  leadership  meetings  regu- 
larly. It  is  at  these  meetings  that 
quorum  presidencies  will  receive  di- 
rection from  the  stake  presidency  re- 
garding matters  pertinent  to  priest- 
hood work  and  instructions  relative 
to  their  assigned  positions  as  presi- 
dencies in  Melchizedek  Priesthood 
quorums.  No  elders  quorum  presi- 
dency can  function  to  the  best  of  its 
possibilities  unless  its  members  ob- 
serve this  requirement  rigidly. 

Sixteenth — Presidencies  to  Direct  the 
Work  of  Standing  Committees 

Elders  quorum  presidencies  have 
the  responsibility  of  appointing  the 
quorum  standing  committees  and  of 
directing  the  work  of  those  commit- 
tees. Naturally  the  success  of  these 
committees  will  be  determined  by 
the  amount  of  direction  given  them 
by  quorum  presidencies.  It  has  been 
observed  that  in  the  past  these  com- 
mittees usually  have  been  appointed, 
but  they  have  not  functioned  as  effec- 
tively as  they  should  because  they 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


have  not  received  sufficient  direction 
from  the  quorum  presidencies.  Elders 
presidencies  are  encouraged  to  give 
more  definite  direction  to  these  com- 
mittees. 

Seventeenth — Presidencies   to  Attend 
Various  Church  Meetings 

The  best  way  to  teach  is  by  ex- 
ample, and  so  the  elders  quorum 
presidencies  are  encouraged  to  set  a 
good  example  to  all  quorum  members 
by  being  in  attendance  at  all  of  the 
meetings  at  which  they  are  supposed 
to  attend.  Elders  quorum  presiden- 
cies should  make  as  near  one  hun- 
dred percent  records  as  possible  in 
their  attendance  at  their  priesthood 
meetings,  sacrament  meetings,  con- 
ference sessions,  monthly  stake  priest- 
hood and  priesthood  leadership  meet- 
ings, their  council  meetings,  and 
other  Church  meetings.  Stake  presi- 
dencies should  recognize  the  fact  that 
few,  if  any,  excuses  are  acceptable 
for  quorum  presidencies  to  be  absent 
from  their  meetings.  As  directors  of 
the  Melchizedek  Priesthood  quorums 
throughout  the  stake,  stake  presiden- 
cies should  be  cognizant  of  their  re- 
sponsibility in  seeing  that  quorum 
presidencies  become  one  hundred  per- 
cent attenders  at  the  various  Church 
meetings. 

Eighteenth — Presidencies  to  Keep  All 
of  God's  Commandments 

Elders  presidencies  are  hereby  re- 
minded that  it  is  their  responsibility 
to  set  a  good  example  to  their  quorum 
members  by  living  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible in  harmony  with  all  of  God's 
commandments.  They  are  requested 
to  obey  the  Word  of  Wisdom,  to  keep 
themselves  morally  clean,  to  keep  the 
sabbath  day  holy,  to  hold  family 
prayers  regularly  and  faithfully,  to 
deal  honestly,  justly,  and  righteously 
with  their  associates,  to  love  the  Lord 
their  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and 
to  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves. 
Those  members  of  presidencies  who 
do  so  will  be  entitled  to  have  the 
Spirit  of  God  with  them  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  be  their  constant  companion 
and  guide.  They  will  be  in  a  position 
to  direct  the  activities  of  their  quo- 
rums under  divine  inspiration;  and 
under  their  supervision  the  work  of 
the  Lord  will  move  forward  in  a 
pleasing  and  effective  manner.  It  is 
suggested  that  stake  presidencies  give 
all  the  encouragement  possible  to  the 
members  of  elders  quorum  presiden- 
cies in  this  respect. 
OCTOBER  1955 


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when   being   used. 

The  water  tray  consists  of  two  pieces:  a  flat 
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HALLS  REMEDY 

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767 


^urRigemd^m% 


HIGH  ACHIEVEMENT 

Deggy  Ann  Goodrich  was  recently 
honored  at  sacrament  meeting 
for  her  six  and  one-half  years  per- 
fect attendance  at  sacrament  meet- 
ing, Sunday  School,  and  MIA.  Dur- 
ing that  time  she  received  an  Honor 
Bee  award,  became  a  Mia  Joy,  and 
fulfilled  her  Silver  Gleaner  require- 
ments. At  the  present  time  she  is 
working  toward  her  Golden  Gleaner 
award.  She  has  received  an  Indi- 
vidual Award  for  each  of  her  six 
years  of  perfect  activity.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Darrell 
Goodrich  of  Tridell  Ward,  Uintah 
(Utah)    Stake. 


Peggy  Ann  Goodrich 


Glendale,  Arizona 
Dear  Editors: 

1  received  your  note  about  The  Improvement  Era,  and  I  wish  to 
express  my  appreciation  to   you. 
I  have  been  trying  to  get  back  into  the  activity  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  I'm  sure  that  every  little  bit  will  help  me  to  do  so. 
It  is  my  desire  to  marry  in  the  temple  so  as  to  be  sealed  to  the 
girl  'I'm   going  to   marry. 
Thank   you  so  very  much. 

Sincerely  your  brother, 
(Signed)  a/2c  Ivan  P.  Hardman 


APO 
San  Francisco,  California 
Dear  Brethren, 

It  is  truly  inspiring  to  me  to  be  able  to  feel  myself  in  such  close 
■*■  contact  with  the  Church  and  with  the  General  Authorities  by 
means  of  the  messages  in  The  Improvement  Era.  Though  I  en- 
joyed reading  The  Era  while  at  home,  it  has  taken  on  an  added 
interest  and  meaning  for  me  since  I  have  been  in  the  service  and 
so  far  from  the  customary  activities  of  the  Church.  I  am  deeply 
grateful  for  my  subscription  to  The  Improvement  Era. 

Sincerely, 
(Signed)   Earl  G.  Clark 


APO 
New  York,  New  York 
Dear  Sirs, 

f  Tntil  the  last  three  months,  the  Era  has  been  my  only  contact 
■  with  the  Church.  Our  base  had  been  without  any  members 
other  than  myself  until  January.  At  that  time  a  branch  of  the 
Church  was  opened  up  at  Nancy,  France,  for  service  of  all  sur- 
rounding bases  and  we  were  then  able  to  hold  meetings  and  have 
our  sacrament  each  Sunday.  However,  due  to  my  having  to  fly 
on  many  weekends,  my  Era  remained  my  constant  companion 
during  these  times. 

Now  I  have  moved  just  outside  Paris  and  will,  except  when 
flying,  be  able  to  attend  branch  services  in  Paris  with  the  many 
fine  members  there.  Thank  you  again  for  sending  me  the  service- 
men's best  friend.  The  Improvement  Era. 

Your  brother, 
(Signed)   Lt.  Burns  Lundgreen 


WE  PROUDLY  PRESENT 


At  a  recent  quarterly  conference  of  the  San  Francisco  Stake, 
President  Serge  J.  Lauper  presented  honorary  Master  M  Man 
and  honorary  Golden  Gleaner  awards  to  Elder  Charles  E.  Wright 
and  Sister  Sylvia  W.  Moulton. 

Elder  Wright  began  his  activities  in  Ogden,  Utah,  as  a  young 
man.  Coming  to  California  years  ago,  he  and  his  family  took  an 
active  part  in  the  MIA  of  San  Francisco  Ward.  For  twelve  years 
now,  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  ward  bishopric,  and  as  such, 
the  adviser  to  the  Mutuals  of  the  ward. 

Sister  Moulton  began  her  Mutual  activities  in  Midway,  Utah.  A 
year  ago  she  received  a  gold  pin  for  being  the  outstanding  teacher 
in  Balboa  Ward.  She  is  a  beloved  adviser  and  companion  to  the 
many  young  people  with  whom  she  has  been  associated  over  the 
years  in  drama,  dances,  operettas,  and  classwork. 


TACOMA  STAKE  SPONSORS  TEMPLE  VISIT 


T'acoma  (Washington)  Stake,  is  just  three  years  old,  and  the  stake 
*  genealogical  committee  has  sponsored  three  very  successful  an- 
nual youth  caravans  to  the  temples.  (In  1953,  thirteen  were  in  the 
group  that  came  to  the  Salt  Lake  Temple;  in  1954,  there  were  fifty- 
five  that  came  to  the  Salt  Lake  Temple.)  This  year  150  youths 
and  adults  came  to  the  Logan  Temple.  During  the  five-day  period 
in  June  the  group  participated  in  approximately  five  thousand  tem- 
ple ordinances. 


Funds  for  these  annual  caravans  are  raised  in  various  ways 
throughout  the  year  in  Tacoma  Stake.  Elder  Arlie  G.  Masters  who 
first  sponsored  the  caravan  idea  felt  that  in  order  to  interest  and 
impress  the  young  men  and  women  as  to  the  importance  of  temple 
work  and  of  marriage  for  eternity,  it  was  necessary  to  stimulate 
their  interest  by  helping  them  to  come  to  a  temple  once  a  year, 
participate  in  temple  baptisms,  and  feel  the  spirit  of  the  temple. 

— Reported  by  Lillian  G.  Edwards 


— Photo   courtesy   Logan    "Herald-Journal" 


768 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


..,,....,., 


■for  Ancjel  ahd  you... 


"'■:■*■&:■ 


bathroom  -tissue 
-that  Is  -facial  -tissue. 


Chiffon  Tissue  is  actually  facial  tissue 
in  rolls  for  bathroom  use!  And 
because  it  is  a  twin-ply  facial  tissue 
it's  double-soft.  So  very,  very  gentle. 


X 


*3s*  - : 


<2se* 


S^ 


'*!& 


**s, 


New  wet-strength  white  facial  tissues  in  boxes. 


Bathroom  tissue  rolls  in  these  5  soft  colors. 


(5  Crown  Zellerbach  Corporation 


TYPICAL  SCENE  AT  HARVEST  TIME,  ABOUT  1905 


^e/i^a^Lmiu. . . 


Classrooms  are  more  crowded,  desk  styles  have  changed,  and  the  old 
pot-bellied  stove  is  gone  —  even  the  teaching-  methods  have  undergone 
considerable  streamlining  —  and  all  for  the  better.  But  when  school 
started  this  fall,  you  can  be  certain  that  there  was  a  day-dreaming  Johnny 
in  almost  every  classroom  who  had  to  be  reminded  that  summer  vacation 
was  over  .  .  .  and  in  many  classrooms  there  was  a  pert,  pretty  young 
teacher  to  remind  him  ...  one  of  the  thousands  of  well-trained  teachers 
who  graduate  from  our  colleges  and  universities  every  year.  Teaching 
is  an  honorable,  prideful  profession  .  .  .  one  that  requires  extensive  and 
intensive  education.  Funds  for  that  education  have  been  provided  for 
many  teachers,  and  those  entering  other  professions,  by  a  well-planned 
Beneficial  Life  Insurance  program.  Consult  your  friendly  Beneficial  Agent 
for  details. 

BENEFICIAL  LIFE 


Our  General  Agents 


'wteeumee 


David  O.  McKay,  Pres 


ommnu 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


4M 


Thomas   L.   Smart,   our 

General  Agent  head- 
quartered in  Portland, 
Oregon,  supervises  12 
agents  serving  an  ex- 
tensive region  in  west- 
ern Oregon  and  south- 
western Washington.  In 
addition  to  the  Portland 
area,  they  serve  Eu- 
gene, The  Dalles, 
Salem,  Myrtle  Creek, 
Turner,  Port  Orford, 
Tillamook,  Klamath 
Falls,  Oregon  City, 
Clackamas,  Newport, 
and  South  Beach. 

Gilbert     L.     Torgeson 

heads  the  Glendale,  Cal- 
ifornia agency,  and 
with  twelve  agents 
serves  Santa  Barbara, 
Ventura,  and  portions 
of  Los  Angeles  coun- 
ties, including  Glen- 
dale, El  Monte,  Bur- 
bank,  Pasadena,  Arca- 
dia, Van  Nuys,  Santa 
Maria,  San  Fernando, 
Pacoima,  Ventura, 
Bakersfield,  and  Alham- 
bra.